I wrote the first draft of my first novel last month. Now I’m told I need a blog to publish, so here I go! I used to say, “Why me? Writing a book is something I just thought about and sometimes talked about. Now it’s, “Why not me?”
Joe Bunting’s “100 Day Book Challenge” made this possible. Before that, it was only a concept. Prior to this, I have only written short stories, and I struggled to do even that. This program made it doeable, if you stick with it. Before you actually start to write your first draft, you write a book plan and the premise surrounding your book, as well as your consequences for missing deadlines. Although the thought of losing chocolate, was a devistating notion, my main motivation was my father. I grew up reading my his science fiction books, so I share his love for the genre. So it’s not a surprise, I wrote my first novel in this area.
The structure of the program, the daily emails from Joe and support from Meghan our mentor was awesome. Sharing this journey with my fellow writers in the program, also made the difference. With my readership of two, I did not want to disappoint them and basked in their encouragement and critique.
Yes, there will be highs and lows and a lot of work, but YOU (why not you?) can do it. I have one and a half jobs with two grade school aged boys in my house. If I waited for perfect timing and perfect writing before I actually wrote something, it would never happen.
Here are some excerpts from my posts to my group:
Week 5
“I am learning to squeeze writing into any time frame I am gifted with.”
Week 7
“Barely made the deadline.”
Week 9
“I’m practically a stranger to my family and the dog begs on hind legs to be petted.”
Week 10
“I wanted to write Merry Christmas this week about 3000 times to get my word count but I know that’s no bueno. It was a challenge to concentrate. I wrote my first 300 words at 0700 on my way to O’Hare after cramming my Christmas shopping into one day.”
Week 12
“Hope you all are doing well. We are so close to the finish line! If this were a race, I might be on hands and knees, at this point.”
Week 14
“We made it! After the first draft is finished, the real work of editing begins. But I won’t think about that now.”
So, what are you waiting for? Life is too short for a list of what if’s. Go do it!
Check it out at
https://thewritepractice.com/members/writeabook/
Enjoy the journey,
Jodi