Magical Moments

I'm pretty sure I've talked about magical moments here before. This is what I call those moments when I'm writing and out of the blue, the perfect thing comes to me -- something I didn't see coming. As writers, we live for these moments, let me tell you!

Last week I did a bunch of Skype visits and one of the classes asked about a favorite spot in I HEART YOU, YOU HAUNT ME. (It's actually one of the most tweeted, tumbled things from my books, too).

Ava, the main character, who is being haunted by her boyfriend, Jackson and was happy about it at first, has this conversation later on, with an ex-boyfriend, Nick.

"Was it hard," I ask. "Letting go?"

"Not as hard as holding on to something that wasn't real."

When Nick first showed up in the manuscript I wasn't sure why. Like I told the students, when someone or something shows up and I kind of scratch my head over it, I let the story unfold to see what happens and to see if maybe that person or thing holds a purpose I don't know about yet. Nick proved his purpose to me right here. He gives Ava the answer she needs at this moment in time, without knowing that's exactly what she needs.

This little snippet of conversation was very much a magical moment and gave me goosebumps as I wrote it. It was just what the story needed, and I didn't plan it. It just...magically appeared.

There is no way to make magical moments happen other than to show up, day after day, and write. They come without warning, and often when you least expect them.

So now, I'm off to write, hoping, as always for one or two of those magical moments to make their way on to the page.

Have a good week!