Writing leads to more writing

When I started Orange Mint and Honey, I knew my character Nona was a lover of plants. At first she didn’t have a garden (just house plants)—it was a dream of hers. As I worked with the plot and became more familiar with her story and her daughter Shay’s story, I realized Nona should have her garden. So I gave her one and it opened the book up in ways I couldn't have guessed. Then I started to garden. And it opened me in ways I couldn't have guessed.

In my next book, one of the characters is a root worker, a hoodoo woman, which may be the next logical step that a gardener takes—to work more with the magic of plants and the earth. The subject fascinates me, though I’m not sure I believe it all. But who knows what will happen as I work with the story? Will I be casting spells?

I could use a spell today, the first day of National Novel Writing Month. So far, not so good. My writing muscles are flabby. But the exercise is why I’m doing it. The more I write, the more I will write. Have you ever noticed that? The more you do of a thing, the more you do of it. It's not just building habit (though that's part of it). It's some kind of spiritual principle.

If you’re NaNoWriMo-ing, let me know how it’s going.