The Book Every Insomniac Should Have Read

“The Dullest Tale Ever Told” could have been the title of my first attempt at a middle grade novel. The point of view (POV) was limited third person, meaning the characters were referred to as him/her, he/she, and the reader only knew what went on inside the protagonist's head. Or so I thought until my writing group critiqued it.
"How does she feel?" "What's she thinking?" "Pick up the pace or lose the reader."
What didn't they get? I said the protagonist, "Felt bored." That was a feeling. She thought a house looked spooky. Wouldn’t the reader want to know why? So what was missing? A spark of life. The story had no soul. I knew the problem was fixable, only I didn’t know how to do it. I was stuck. Discouraged. Ready to throw in my pen.
Then fate led me into a tiny bookstore, its entire inventory barely filled two bookcases. In one of them I found, CONFLICT ACTION & SUSPENSE (ELEMENTS OF FICTION) by William Noble. After I read the book, I understood how to ignite the missing spark; anything at all that happened in the story must move the plot forward or be banished. I was ready to revise.
I reread my manuscript for the first time in months. It was terrible! It preached. It rambled. My protagonist was a drip. The voice was as exciting as a news anchor reading a list of school closings. I still thought the book had potential, but it was in need of an extreme makeover. I had no clue where to begin.
And then I had, The Dream:
I was in a classroom.
"What's your book about?" asked the teacher.
"A girl," I replied, "she goes here, and she does this, and...."
The teacher interrupted, "What's it about?"
"Well, uh..." I didn't know.
Fast forward to the next class.
"What’s the book about?" the teacher asked.
"It's about this girl. She’s a good speller and proud of it. When she looks
up to talk to her uncle, she can see the hair inside his nose."

The next day, as I pondered the dream, I realized the soul of a novel came from seeing the world through the eyes of the protagonist, then telling the story from her perspective, not mine. And just like that, my protagonist started talking to me. She was almost thirteen, friendless, judgmental, loved learning new words, had a quirky phobia, and, best of all, she had a tale to tell. I raced to my computer and let her loose. The POV changed from third to first person. She did the talking, I did the typing. I was ruthless with details, anything that didn’t propel the plot forward got the axe. When I’d finished the revision, an entirely new story had emerged. The characters were real, the story was fun, it moved, and it had spark and soul!
I recently completed the final revision, and the book is out looking for a home. Meanwhile I have two new novels in progress, well, the characters and I do. I now let the characters tell the tale, and I write it down for them. After all, it is their story, is it not?