Dear Wizard,

I am writing to you because I am having trouble beginning my stories. I want to start in one place, but then, I seem to run out of steam. I am bored by my book before I even get to write the cool or exciting parts of it. I don’t know what to do. I’ve started three different stories in a row and they all more or less led to the graveyard of unfinished stories.

Is it wrong, Wizard, to want to enjoy my writing process? How do I get over the mountain of the first third of my draft? What do I do?

Sincerely,
Bad Beginnings (fae/faer)

Dear Beginnings,

I want you to know that sometimes the Universe leads us down winding paths. We start in one place, but that is not really the beginning of our journey.

Do you pack all your belongings and call it the beginning of a journey?

No. Not truly.

Most don’t begin a journey until they take the first step out of the house. Or perhaps even until they board a train, plane or boat. Granted most of the journeys these days ought to be journeys of the imagination. However, I believe the metaphor still stands.

Where does a journey begin? What is the Universe calling you to do? Why is the Universe calling you to this spell? To this journey? What is it that makes this unique to you? Why you? Why now?

For example: if I meet a friend for a walk. The Universe is calling me to commune with my environment and my kin. Do you care about what my friend and I are chatting about? Does it matter to you where we are walking? Do you know me? Or my friend? Are we going through some drama in our lives?

Is it more interesting to know that my friend and I agreed to take a walk in the Wizard Water Gardens? To hear the flow of the water flowing through the gardens. To feel the serenity of the gardens. The peace that the sound of water brings. For us to be enchanted by the way our kin and nature interacted to create this environment for us to commune in.

When do you think the Universe planted the seed for this journey? Perhaps it was when I woke up and used my crystal ball to call my friend. Maybe my friend needed to be in nature and agreed. Maybe my friend was busy and I went on the walk alone. Does the Universe truly care if I went on my walk alone or took it with my friend (while donning our masks)?

Beginnings, does my walk begin the moment that I think about taking a walk? Or does it begin when I meet my friend? Or does it begin when I take the first steps down the prescribed path of the Wizard Water Gardens?

There is no prescribed beginning to my walk. The Universe knows that the walk is there for every moment along the way with me. However, if I am telling the story of my walk to my familiar, Shay the black dog, I wouldn’t begin with the moment of conception. I would probably tell Shay I met my friend for a walk and we talked about the ways that Chang’s Grimoire changed the way that wizards see the nature of the Universe.
There is no right or wrong beginning. Only the part of the journey that you want to recount. The Universe can help guide you through that. Or perhaps you want to enjoy the entire journey in all of its succor and that is ok too. Ultimately it is up to you to enjoy the meandering paths that the Universe throws you on.

Enjoy my friend, Beginnings!

Sincerely,
A Wizard