How Book Series Can Inspire Your Writing
So clearly as our readers, you all know here at Writely Me we are writers. I personally am working on a book series and one author who I find inspiration from is JK Rowling. I literally grew up reading these books and eventually watching the movies. Needless to say, when the series came to an end it was bittersweet for me. I fell in love with this series so much that all I wanted to read from that point on was more book series. For me, as a reader and writer, I love the feels. I love falling in love with characters. I enjoy learning about who they are, who they were, why they act the way they do, what their struggles are, why they make a decision to change, and how they fall in love. I could go on and on but I think you get the point.As I dove into more and more book series with more and more characters, I found myself nostalgic of wanting more.
It dawned on me one day to write my own series, so I could fall in love with my own characters, give them life, give them meaning, understand them, and watch them blossom through their own struggles. I am still working on book one which I started over four years ago.
At the time, I had no idea what I was doing or how someone writes a book or how to even come up with a story line. I worked with a lovely woman who had just published a self-help book. I remember asking her: Where did you start? How did you know what your story was? I remember her saying write down notes like bullet points and before you know it, it will come to you.
Well four years later, what started out as bullet points became sentences and those sentences became paragraphs until the paragraphs became a story line. I wrote the whole foundation for my book in one year. It was during one of the darkest years of my life. Other than seeing my son, writing was all I had looked forward to every night. I wrote every single day for one year, whether it was one page or ten. By the end, I had created something extraordinarily beautiful to me. I fueled my inspiration by listening to audio books every day at work, especially the Harry Potter series.
At this point, I had admired JK Rowling more so as a writer, because I had watched the movie about her life and learned of her struggles. Throughout the years, I have found myself relating to her more and feeling grateful that she had never given up on her dream because it has helped pave the way for mine. The point to my post is: knowing that you have a dream, it takes tons of hard work and dedication but every struggle along the way is worth it because it shapes us and makes us stronger.
One very profound scene from the Potter series that leaves me in tears every time is the scene between Dumbledore and Snape. For all of my Potter fans, it's usually a shared favorite. The scene is when we truly understand Severus Snape after seven books and what he really stands for. We find out that he spend most of his life being in love with Lily Evans, Harry's mother. That he dedicated a great part of his life keeping Harry safe because he loved her so much. This scene is uplifting and heartbreaking because as readers we spend so much time believing Severus Snape is evil to find out, yes he was bitter, but overall a good man. As a reader, it leaves you feeling so many emotions but as a writer, it's beautiful to be able to make your reader feel the pain this character has felt for so long with one word.
Series are a wonderful way to fall in love, have your heartbroken, be taught a valuable lesson, and just have fun. As a writer, as an artist, these are a form of escapism from everyday life, but the escape can also have profound beauty and lessons within them. I hope to give that to readers some day through my own series. I have been blessed by authors helping me through dark times with their stories, their characters and through inspiration. It is my passion to do the same.
Keep your dreams alive and always follow them.
