When something just clicks

Last year, my older son came down with a medical condition called Complex Regional Pain Syndrome. This is an incredibly painful condition and much of the therapy is physio to get the limb moving again in spite of the pain.

For a long time, the physio tried everything to get him moving again - tough love, rewards, setting goals - but none of it worked until something clicked in his mind to overcome the fear of the pain that may come with walking on his painful leg.

Back in 2011, I got back into writing fiction after a long break and the following year I participated in the first Chapter Book Challenge. I wrote a story that was good, but there wasn't a goal or reason why the main character was going on his adventure.

I still love the story and the information it gives to kids, and I am trying everything to find the point of the story... so far, nothing is clicking. I'm hoping that, one day, something will just click and it will see the light of day.

This can be true for all of us when working on our stories. For some of them, no amount of hard work, goal setting, counting words, or workshopping a story will get things to work. In this situation, sometimes we just need to let it simmer until the day when something just clicks and the story comes together.

When that something clicks, it's such a great feeling and it ends up with a stronger story than it began and, hopefully, a story that readers will love too.

Melissa Gijsbers lives in Melbourne with her two teenage boys and pet blue tongue lizard. She writes flash fiction as well as middle grade novels.

You can follow her writing journey at www.melissawrites.com.au and www.melissagijsbers.com