Since I’m getting married in May (and wayyy behind on the wedding planning), I promised myself I wouldn’t take on any major writing projects until June. Meaning I wouldn’t tackle revisions on my novel-in-progress, Daphne and the Whale, in the first five months of the year. And I most definitely wouldn’t start a new novel.

You can probably guess what happened.

I was on a major short story kick over the last few months. I finished several stories, got a couple accepted to publications, and started probably a dozen more. Then I got an idea for a short story titled American Witch, about the modern-day descendants of the witches of colonial New England (assuming these witches had real magic powers). There was something special about this story. It spoke to me. It sparked seemingly endless ideas and characters and conflicts…until it was no longer a short story. I had to accept the fact that it wanted—it demanded—to be a novel.

Of course, I told myself I wouldn’t start working on it until June. It was too big of an undertaking, and I had too much wedding planning left to do. Still, the story wouldn’t stop speaking to me. Ideas crowded my brain, popping up at the most inopportune times—in the shower, at meetings for my day job, when I lay down to sleep at night. I had to start writing them down in order to stay sane.

So, about a week ago, I gave in. I started filling out characterization worksheets and plot outlines. I made a to-read list of YA books, since this will be my first YA novel. I haven’t started drafting the novel in earnest—I’m hoping to save that for June—but I’ve made a lot of progress on the pre-writing steps.

Advisable? Not really. Fun? Oh, yeah.

You’ve probably heard the old adage that you shouldn’t wait for inspiration to strike before you start writing. I’m a firm believer in this. However, I also believe that on those rare occasions when inspiration does strike, you should capitalize on it. This is one of those glorious moments for me, and I plan to make the most of it. Happy writing!