Stories Take Time

Write about what you know. That's the key to writing. Jane Austen wrote about what she knew. Society, life in the English countryside and in cities like Bath. The wit and humour are all there, too, and with a sharp mind those ingredients are mixed well and the end result is a wonderfully written story full of pieces of her life made into original characters and places. Situations drawn from her life experiences created story lines that work so well and are still fresh today. It doesn't grow old to read stories of good triumphing in the end and only the truest love happening for the lead heroine.

Though Jane Austen's novels end at the happy marriage and some additional details, the whole of the novel is the struggles, the mess-ups, the learning and growing in wisdom to be a better person. Those trials and unknown times in life are what makes the stories stories to tell. If everything just happened with the snap of two fingers there would be no story to tell. If Mr. Darcy was perfectly kind from the start and Elizabeth more open, they might have gotten together within the first 4 chapters of Pride and Prejudice and the book would be over. But because they both needed to develop, change, grow, and learn the story is intriguing, inspiring, and the true love shines through.

I want my story to be like that. I have had struggles and trials and I know through them I have grown. I am also certain that I have much more to learn. I have to stay firm in my trust that no matter where I go next, the puzzle pieces that are my life will fit together as God intends.