Are you curious?
While I was writing my book, I also kept a journal, which I have titled “A Novel Beginning.” The journal was for myself at first, in order to keep track of what I had accomplished, to keep myself accountable and also to have some reference to look back on and compare to as I continued to write other books. While my blog will share with you the high's and low's as I move along in the writing and publishing world, I decided I would also share with you the thoughts I jotted down during the months I spent writing my book.
Are you interested?
I hope so.
If you are, continue reading as I share with you now some portions of my notes from the journal, beginning with the first two weeks:
Week 1
Wednesday:
Writing a book has some fear attached to it, or rather, quite a bit of fear. I finally had to admit to the fear I had about putting so much work into something, only to be told by someone or many some ones, that it just wasn’t good enough. BUT you only fail if you do not try. At least if you try, it is something to be proud of, whether you meet someone else’s expectations or not. So, I began to make regular time to write. That was the true beginning for me; making an actual schedule to write. I had already bought enough books and magazines, already researched enough online articles, it was now finally time to make true what I was too chicken to say out loud: I am a writer so I will write!
Friday:
I began to type, after fighting what felt like writer’s block right from the beginning. Then as I began to let the words come, the sentences followed, then the paragraphs and finally the pages. I had earlier planned to write a certain number of pages every day and I may not quite be there but my first sitting ended with 13 pages. I felt good about that, considering how long I stared at the keyboard and computer before words finally flowed from my fingertips. I do believe I can do better and I just need to work on finding the right blocks of time so that I can write a good number of pages per day. It should not be out of the realm of possibility!
Week 2
Monday:
Tonight I was supposed to take the life of a character…and I just could not do it. I was working on a particular scene and as I wrote out the scene I had already envisioned, I could not write the actual words necessary to cause the character’s demise. Is it odd that I cannot take the life of a fictional human being? I have other characters where this will not or would not be a problem for me but this particular character…well, I guess I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to write them out of the story as I first intended. I’m thinking they might have more to offer if they stick around. So I did not completely write out the scene and in fact, it is unclear to me at this point if the character will live or die. It may completely change my storyline but for now I have not quite decided how this part of the story will play out. For now, the fate of the character is unknown.
Tuesday:
My definition for the word “distraction” is “the worst adversary for any writer.” Whether you have a job, a spouse, children, friends, dogs, cats, a house to care for, parents to visit, club commitments…the list continues. The trick is finding the time and then making sure anyone in your immediate vicinity knows NOT to bother you! What I’m learning from the start is that I might not be able to block out four hours in the morning, or three hours in the evening every day to write. I have a business I’m running, children to take care of, a spouse to spend time with and other obligations I cannot ignore. However, I expect to find some good quality time every day when I can at least spend some time getting my thoughts on paper. Although I had hoped to write a certain amount every day, I have decided it’s really not how much I write every day, but that I do write every day.
To be continued…
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