What If Your Best Chapter Hasn’t Been Written Yet?
The Chapters Still Ahead | No. 1
As we get older, we sometimes begin to look backward rather than forward. Apparently, this is common. The paths not taken, the fumbles along the way, and the regrets that find their way into our minds. Our expectations for life begin to feel as though they’re already set in motion like a runaway train. And there’s little room to veer off course toward a different path, a different destination.
A 46-year-old woman named Suzanne Collins would change that premise completely as she published a little book in 2008 called The Hunger Games. Her story appeared on my radar because she wasn’t right out of college when her name began appearing everywhere. She wasn’t new to writing by any means. She began her professional career writing for children’s television series like Clarissa Explains It All, Oswald, and Little Bear.
It was with encouragement from a friend named James Proimos, who was also an author and illustrator, that she decided to try her hand at writing children’s novels. She wrote a book called Gregor the Overlander, which was the first book in The Underland Chronicles, a series of five books for younger readers.
Her next series was called The Hunger Games, which became a trilogy consisting of The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and then Mockingjay. There were also two prequels written: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise on the Reaping. The series spent more than eight years on the New York Times bestseller list. The inspiration for The Hunger Games came to her while she was living life on a very ordinary night, watching television and flipping through channels.
In 2012, Lionsgate released the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, breaking multiple box office records. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, the second in the series, was the highest-grossing film at the domestic box office in 2013. The work she did prior to the world noticing was perhaps just as important. It was the time she spent learning, preparing, and creating something even she couldn’t have predicted.
As someone who has always loved writing and stories, I find myself wondering how many incredible stories are sitting unfinished because the world or the authors convinced themselves they’ve passed their deadline. What wonderful things might never exist because some of us decide we were too old to continue or to simply begin.
Just because the world doesn’t acknowledge your work or give its stamp of approval doesn’t mean it’s not important. You could be in the middle of a chapter that’ll make more sense after you turn a few more pages. There isn’t a deadline for dreaming, learning, or declaring a passion for something new. Perhaps your next chapter in life is still waiting to be written in your time, on your watch.
~Bonnie Bluewater
Is there something you’ve wanted to try but haven’t found the right time to begin?
Thank you for reading, What If Your Best Chapter Hasn’t Been Written Yet?
