I’ve been at a crossroads with my writing career this year. Children’s books are struggling, in part because of the tariffs in America and in part because young people aren’t reading as much. The market isn’t super excited about the kind of complex contemporary topics I’ve written about previously, so I needed to move in a new direction. Right now I’m drafting an adult romcom, but I also took the time to go back through my old notebooks and see if I had any middle grade concepts that weren’t contemporary. That’s when I discovered a notebook for a middle grade fantasy that I’d completely forgotten about, along with fifty pages of manuscript I wrote in 2019.
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Back when I came up with the idea for this fantasy story, I was on deadline for a middle grade contemporary, so after getting the initial idea down on paper, I’d set it aside. This has happened many times with many projects. What I found particularly astonishing about this one, though, was that I had little to no recollection of writing it. As I flipped through the notebook pages, it came back to me bit by bit, until the stunning realization hit me that the concept was GOOD. Not just a little good, but VERY good.
I think because I set it aside, my brain just relegated the idea to the dustbin of the past and moved on. It’s not that I didn’t like the idea back then. I just didn’t have a path forward for it. I was navigating the challenges of building a readership in contemporary stories and focused on those goals. Now, those are no longer my goals, and I’m so freaking grateful to Past Melanie who took the time to honor this story idea even if it wasn’t the right time to write it. The market wants me to produce the same story over and over again, but artists need variety.
Did you know that David Bowie not only made incredible music, but also painted? Da Vinci was an excellent musician. Lots of actors are great singers, too. Flea has a passion for chess. Frida Kahlo enjoyed traditional crafts, and Georgia O’Keeffe was an accomplished photographer. Whenever you dig into an artist’s biography, you almost always find that they had a plethora of side projects. In today’s modern world, we’re told to focus our brand and have a niche and build an identity around it, but that’s not how art works.
In today’s modern world, we’re told to focus our brand and have a niche and build an identity around it, but that’s not how art works.
Art requires variety because our brains require variety. Problem solving isn’t limited to one medium. There are creative problems to solve in all aspects of life. This is why, contrary to popular guidance, side projects are a good thing. A side project isn’t a distraction, it’s an exploration. We may not even know WHY we need to pursue a particular activity, but in doing it we discover the why. My side projects include gardening, wood work, photography, and painting (which I need to do more of).
When we feed our creativity, we generate even more creative energy. Your mind is an incredible instrument, and the more you encourage it to find connections, the more it will find. Creativity isn’t something we can use up. Creativity is infinite. By embracing our side projects and honoring our diverse interests, we are filling the well of life. This is the whole point of being here, afterall. Find joy and put yourself in the path of it. Don’t judge where it’s taking you. Allow the journey. You never know where you might end up.
And now for my paid subscribers, here’s a peek at the notebook pages for the middle grade fantasy that we’re going on submission with very soon!
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