Be Like Coral- Keep building.

My kids have a book about coral reefs. When they were little I read it well over a hundred times. 

Here’s what I learned: Coral reefs are made of tiny coral polyps. The reef builds over thousands of years because when new coral polyps are born they attach to the skeletons of old coral polyps. 

They build on those that go before them. 

Boom.

What a great metaphor for building anything! 

• Writing a book- keep building. Even the parts that don’t make the cut are important. 

• Creating a new habit- keep building. Every success and failure moves you forward. 

• Want to change your world- keep building. Each day is a chance to build on what came before. 

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It took me a long-long-long time to write Lost: The Other Realm (Book 1). But writing book 2 (Searching: The Other Realm) is going much faster. The skeletons, all the things I learned while writing book 1 have allowed me to build more. The foundation was already built for the love triangle, the political intrigue, the characters redemption arcs. The love story of the secondary characters that ran away with book 1. All those things were built while writing book 1. 

In a way, Cassie’s entire story- her life- is like a coral reef. Built on the things that came before, in her case- she can’t remember most of it. But then again, that’s part of the fun.