How To Make Your Life Feel Like A Novel

The term ‘feel like’ is key here. This is not a blog about how to turn your life 'into' a novel in the literal sense. So, if that’s why you’re here, you may want to click away now.

This blog is for those of us whimsical – and deliciously deluded – enough to want to take our experience as a reader one step further and actually live as if we are the main character inside an epic novel of sorts.

Whether your dream is to be the clumsy, anti-romance heroine of a love story where your not-so-Prince-Charming is just about to bump into you on the street, or you genuinely want to battle dragons and live like a fae creature in your own version of a fantasy, my question is: why the hell not?

Life can be so dull and mundane at times, that if imagining you’re actually in a novel gives the whole thing a little extra pizazz and meaning – then go right ahead. Here are some tips.

Maintain an unwavering sense of optimism at all times.

I’m not saying you need to be happy, all-singing, all-dancing, all of the time. I’m talking more from within.

The great thing about novels is, you know there’s going to be a great story unfolding sometime soon – even if you’re at the low point right now. Because what’s a positive without a negative for comparison? This low point is just going to make the inevitable high feel even more triumphant. (That’s what this is all for.)

Even if shit’s hitting the fan right now, you don’t need to vocalise it. You only need to hang on to this belief by a thread – but you just know, deep down, that this isn’t it. This is just one chapter. One blip. And soon, something’s going to happen to fling your trajectory back up.

This is just a chapter, not the whole book.

Don’t stop romanticising – and definitely don’t let people make you feel weird for it.

Romanticising your life has become somewhat of a trend lately, and you know what? I’m here for it. I feel like I’ve kind of been doing this for a while, but only now is there an official name for it.

Romanticising is amazing, because it can turn your morning routine into a sacred ritual, a journaling session into a historic spilling of thoughts (that could totally end up in a museum cabinet one day when you’re famous), and a simple walk through the countryside into the opening scene of someone’s favourite rom-com.

I love this, because it makes the mundane feel magical, the slow feel special, and the drudgery feel dramatic. Again, you don’t have to tell anyone that you’re mentally doing this – but if you do and they look at you funny, shrug it off. They’re clearly just a side character in your story anyway.

Skip through life ignoring the haters, scattering your basket of rose petals anyway.

Pay attention to your soundtrack… and your script.

Novel, film – same diff. Music can play an enormous role in how you feel day to day and even how you view a situation. The right music adds drama, sets the tone, makes things feel the way you want them to feel – and you have full control over that.

Find your song. Find your vibe. Let the motivation happen. That flip of the stomach when your song matches your situation and you’re like, yes – let’s seize the day. I’m making this happen.

But there’s another side to this, which comes in the form of the voices around you – the speech in your story, the script in your film. Are you the author creating the words, or the character reading them?

Your role in this might switch, but ultimately, you are your own author – and to everyone else, you’re a character. Weird but true, right? While you can’t write anyone else’s speech bubbles but your own, you can control how you react, and whose speech you allow onto the page.

I’ll just let that sink in for a minute.

There'll always be someone who'll give your book a one star review.

Create your own story when there’s a lull.

If things are becoming a bit predictable, a bit mundane, think – if I were watching or reading about this character (me), what would I be screaming at them to do right now?

On this rare occasion, you have complete autonomy over what your character does next. So make it happen! Be creative. Know yourself. Learn what would make you happy. What would happen next to make this a really compelling story?

Something that helps me – and is also quite fun – is to imagine what your author would write about you right now:

"And that was the moment the penny dropped. Freedom – she could taste it. All she had to do was think outside the box.”

I don’t know – a quick, off-the-top-of-my-head narrative describing my brainwave to go freelance in third person (hoping it’s pre-destined to all work out with my unwavering internal optimism).

Try it, see what happens. What will your pen reveal about you? There’s no hiding when your character is you.

Idea > research > do > edit > repeat.

Always believe in magic.

I don’t mean to sound cliché – nor do I necessarily mean magic in the literal sense of spells and witchcraft (but if that’s your vibe, then absolutely embrace it... I do). But seriously, who’s so arrogant as to say there’s really no such thing? How can we prove it? Maybe you just haven’t recognised it when you’ve seen it – ever thought of that?

Magic means different things to different people, and there are plenty of everyday things we might take for granted that feel like magic to me.

Believing in magic is kind of like extreme gratefulness — and a little bit of that romanticising from earlier too. Magic is belief. It’s optimism. It’s main character energy embodied.

That childlike sense of self is still there – we just put it away to deal with life’s demands and expectations (boring). But what if we let it back out, even just a little bit? I think the world would be much more interesting, and we’d have a hell of a lot more hope in general.

The world could've ended thousands of times over if it weren't for magical forces happening behind the scenes.

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I didn’t write this blog for any type of business purpose really – I just had a brainwave to embrace this mystical, story-led vibe I’ve got going on. Somehow I feel like my thoughts are unique or something.

But if you do wanna get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for reading.

Kiera