This last week reminded me that stories don’t always happen behind a keyboard.

I spent most of my days showing houses, answering phone calls, directing rehearsals, and checking things off an ever-growing to-do list. By the time I finally sat down in front of my computer, I was convinced I hadn’t done anything remotely creative all week.

Then I started thinking about the conversations I’d had.

A young couple nervously buying their first home. An actor finally finding confidence in a difficult scene. An agent celebrating a closing she’d worked months to earn.

Every one of those moments was a story.

Sometimes I think writers put too much pressure on themselves to create something extraordinary when all we really need to do is pay attention. Life is constantly handing us pieces of humanity—we just have to notice them.

Maybe writing isn’t about escaping life.

Maybe it’s about collecting it.

~ Nina Soden #TheRedheadedAuthor

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