The Girl with the Dragonfly Tattoo

It’s Friday, December 18, 2015, and I’m sitting at a picnic table in front of the “Wings of Wonder” exhibit at the Dallas Zoo in search of inspiration. Nearly 50 days have passed since I plunged headfirst into the final chapter of my novel, appropriately entitled “Revelation,” but the finish line feels no less closer today than it did when I started. Writer’s block can be a very cruel and unusual punishment—a feeling of helpless confinement, where you find yourself flapping your creative wings but failing to ever get airborne. I suppose if anyone can relate, it’s the grounded birds in front of me that know the feeling all too well.

The pressure to finish this project is a product of my own making. I knew the last chapter would be the most difficult to write and one that would require a serious investment of my time. Rather than wait until completion, however, I took a calculated risk and printed copies of the first 39 chapters and sent them off to a focus group at the end of September.

Participating readers had 45 days to complete the book and send back a brief survey. Upon receipt, I planned to forward them a copy of the final chapter, which I fully expected to have completed by then…so I thought. Life rarely plays out according to plan. Unexpected situations can arise without notice, forcing you to adjust on the fly.

This is exactly what happened during the month of October when I unwillingly shifted my focus away from Maven’s story and over to other responsibilities that required my immediate attention. Writing had officially been relegated to the bottom of my priority list, where it might have stayed if not for the surveys that began to trickle in toward the end of the month.

The responses were overwhelmingly positive, and the encouraging feedback led me to alter my schedule for the remainder of the year. I knew that I had to put a final exclamation point on Maven’s story, so I left the city and headed south to the Texas hill country in hopes of kick starting the writing process.

I spent six days writing in relative seclusion from a small cabin overlooking peaceful Lake Travis, but nothing came easy. Every paragraph, every sentence, every word proved to be a struggle. Experience has taught me that inspiration has a schedule all its own. It comes and goes like a breeze. If you don’t raise your sails in time, then you’ll eventually find yourself chasing the proverbial wind.

When I returned to Dallas, I continued writing as often as my schedule allowed. I even started mixing up my writing locations, posting up at different spots around the city, which explains how I ended up at the zoo. I made the decision on a whim, inwardly hoping that an afternoon away would clear my mind and provide me with the clarity I so desperately needed.

The day started brisk and sunny with temperatures hovering in the mid-50s; arguably one of the prettier afternoons of the year. The crowds were minimal and the day relaxing. I began my adventure by moseying along from one exhibit to the next, not knowing what I was looking for, but searching intently, nonetheless.

I stopped at the "DinoSoar Ampitheater" and watched a quick show that featured a couple of hyacinth macaws, a Eurasian eagle owl and a bald eagle. Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to make a quick donation, especially when the zoo's resident white-necked raven was the one collecting the money.

I eventually arrived at the “Cheetah Encounter” at the north end of the zoo, just in time to watch the world’s fastest land animal burst across the lawn from zero to 70 in just under three seconds. Experiencing the thrill of the chase next to me was another solo zoo-goer who happened to be in town visiting. She and I became quick friends, and we spent the afternoon feeding giraffes and spying on sleeping koalas.

As we were walking, I happened to notice a small dragonfly tattoo behind her right ear. I was taken back by the discovery because dragonflies are an important symbol that I incorporated into my book. I selected them, in particular, because of their spiritual connotation. They represent change and self-realization, and often appear around Maven during times of great difficulty or confusion.

I figured there had to be a reason why she had selected this particular tattoo. When I asked her about it later, she explained that she had decided on a dragonfly after several appeared to her after the death of a close friend. I then shared with her the symbolism of the dragonfly in relation to Maven’s story, and started to connect the dots in my mind as to how the final chapter should unfold.

As I mentioned earlier, you never know when the winds of inspiration will pick up, nor do you know what or who will blow across your path. Whether it’s a stray feather falling out of the sky or a fateful encounter with a girl with the dragonfly tattoo, I realized long ago that inspiration comes when you least expect it.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez, acclaimed Colombian author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, once said, “I’m absolutely convinced that I’m going to write the greatest book of my life, but I don’t know which one it will be or when. When I feel something like this—which I have been feeling now for a while—I stay very quiet, so that if it passes by I can capture it.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Follow me on Instagram at @Joshua_Maven or @HonchotheVan, on Twitter @MaventheRaven or Facebook at Facebook/TheLastImperial.