Lizzy Charles | The Heart Behind The Words

Okay, I have a confession to make. I’m a “writer” who openly admits that I have no idea what I’m doing. When I sat down to write EFFORTLESS WITH YOU, I was clueless. I approached my keyboard not because I wanted to write a novel but because I had a life and death sense of urgency to write a few paragraphs of something worth telling. That way I could say “I tried” when my soul stared back at me.

Up front, EFFORTLESS WITH YOU is the story of Lucy, a sixteen year old girl who falls for the guy she hates as her carefully crafted social persona crumbles. But the heart of it is so much more.

You see, six weeks prior to writing my first sentence of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU, I gave birth. Everything in me changed the moment my doctor placed my child in my arms and said “It’s a girl!” She gazed up at me, looking into the depths of my soul. I saw the reflection of my pushed aside dreams in her eyes, all flooding forward.

As I struggled to gain my Mommy feet, my childhood dream of becoming a writer wouldn’t leave me alone. Every morning, I’d whisper words to my daughter to listen to her soul and to find the strength to grow into the woman she was created to be (who-ever that may be).

But these words I whispered made me ache. I was such a hypocrite. How could I tell her to be strong in her creation, if I ignored my own completely? Finally, I took a deep breath, and opened up my laptop. I poured out a scene where a girl realizes her strength, owns her abilities, and totally kicks a guys butt on the basketball court. The moment I got the words out, nothing could stop the flow. I wrote and wrote, dangerously allowing my life to shape the story of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU.

Less than nine months into writing the novel, I discovered I was pregnant again. Another girl. Two daughters born behind the pages of this novel. Two daughters staring into my soul. I couldn’t escape what their eyes reflected back. So I poured my heart into my story. I had a desperate drive to get the story on the page. Maybe one day, they’d open up the document and appreciate it? Who knows?

Here’s the secret of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU. It’s not a straight up romance. You’ll find a story of love, but at the heart of it, it’s the love and distress of a mother daughter relationship that fuels the reader on.

Motherhood was an impossible topic for me to avoid while writing the novel. When I tried to write only a story about a boy and a girl, the theme kept slipping in. I fought it for a while, but the writing was hard. Once I surrendered to where my words wanted to go, the story flowed. I carefully weaved in my fears of motherhood and all the mistakes I could make. I complimented the fears with my hope, that I may have the endless strength to fight for a relationship with my daughters, no matter what path their lives take.

I also pulled from my career as a Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse, integrating mental health into the mother/daughter relationship. As a NICU nurse, I educate mothers about postpartum depression and their mental health is always on my radar. I wanted to create a story that crossed over, that mother’s could identify with and share with one another.

I’m thankful I live in a time where mothers now talk more about postpartum depression, but it’s still not accepted as “normal.” How would a teenager ever understand the how’s, why’s and truth’s behind postpartum depression, if the conversation isn’t more upfront and open? The story of EFFORTLESS WITH YOU is written as a tool to help open those doors. A safe place that can allow conversation and communication to bloom.

I learned a lot about myself as an writer through crafting EFFORTLESS WITH YOU. One, I can’t write a straight up young adult romance. There has to be more behind the plot, pouring from my own heart into the characters, that keeps me inspired to write that new scene. It’s not that I don’t enjoy writing that moment when my characters almost kiss, but my favorite part of writing is in the character growth.

Opening my heart is what allowed me to shape EFFORTLESS WITH YOU into something unique. Honestly, I wish there was a safer, not bare-all way for me to write. But when I try drawing from something else, my words fall flat on the page. My characters are born from my own emotions, both their conflicts and resolutions coming from within.

So when I say that I don’t know what I’m doing, I’m not saying I can’t write a sentence or form a story that I care about. What I’m saying is this: My stories will change as my own character is refined and grown. I dare not define my writing or character style. Perhaps that’s why I’m drawn to writing young adult, I’m open to admitting that I don’t have everything figured out. Each novel will be different, not fitting into a cookie cutter mold. Because I draw from so deep within, I doubt I could fit into a mold if I tried.

So what do you know nothing about?