What if we lived every day as though we were writing a new page in a book?

Has your story already started? How will you continue it? What messages do you want it to convey? What is your character like? Where does it take place? What conflicts do you run into? What makes you sing with joy?

The simple fact is that most people don’t see their lives as a story. So many people sit back and let life happen instead of taking control and sculpting it to be as they wish. A writer would never simply scribble words down on the paper without thinking about their meaning. A photographer does not idly point and click and hope to find a masterpiece in their camera. And so should a person take from the same ideology, that instead of waking up each day and going through the motions of life, take control and live it.

I believe that seeing life in this way will help the artist in anyone. It doesn’t matter if you create art traditionally or not: everyone is part artist because an artist is someone who sees the world a little bit differently and acts on it. So everyone has an artist within, and it is up to each individual if they release those stories. By understanding how to not only see, but live life with more intent and more story, you begin to understand more about how stories are told, why they are worth living, and how to put that out into the world.

1. Think of each day as a new page in your book. Just as a writer would not write a new page for no reason, we should not live our lives for no reason either. Try to do something each day that furthers your story – that moves you forward and incites emotion or change. Do something unexpected, or kind, or witty, or scary. Do something that you find interesting. And write down what that thing was.

2. Define what kind of character you are or want to be. Are you strong and bold? Weak and timid? Shy but fearless? How would you describe the character you are playing now, and how would you describe the character you want to be? Who are your favorite characters from books, shows, movies? And why do you love them so much? I am always changing the person I am into the person I want to be, and I will never stop because my life experiences change how I see the world. Strive to write yourself into the character of your dreams.

3. Every character needs a good story arc. Create a goal for yourself or for your art, or both! When you create a dream for yourself, your days are spent contributing to the fulfillment of that dream. Every character in a movie, TV show or book will have a goal they are trying to achieve – it could be an epic saga, a huge journey, or personal growth – and very often, it is many things rolled into one. So set a goal for yourself and work to achieve it every single day so that your book pages are filled with meaning.

In the same way that we craft our art, we must write our story in order to live it.