writing

My Writing Adventure

Well, I survived the dentist! It wasn’t too bad. The first shot of Novocain didn’t really work. Thankfully, the second shot did, but I still felt intense pain a few times during the procedure. I’m so glad it’s done and feeling very thankful for Novocain. My teeth are a little tender today, but I think I’ll be just fine. I told Jimmy that if I ever need anything more than a cavity filled or repaired, I’m looking into sedation dentistry 😉

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I decided to treat myself for making it through the dentist by giving myself a manicure with hot pink polish to celebrate spring. (Can you tell I was having fun with webcam filters in the picture?!) Funny story: My hand twitched while I was painting my nails and I spilled polish all over my shirt, jeans, and couch. I guess I was feeling jumpy?!

So, now I’m ready to discuss my book writing process! Let’s dive in.

As I mentioned previously, my book idea started with a question. I woke up one morning and thought if this happened, then what? The first thing I did was grab a piece of paper and let my mind run wild. I jotted down basic ideas, questions, names, themes, and places. I was honestly surprised I wanted to write a novel because I’m such a huge fan of nonfiction, but I decided to just go with it.

Once I had the basic gist of the plot, I started to create an outline. The outline was more detailed in the first few chapters, and I have continued to update it as I have delved further into the story and have a better idea of what I want to happen in later chapters. I will note, though, that I still don’t have a specific ending for the story yet. I’m torn on what I want to happen, ha. I think as I continue to write, it will become more clear. I hope!

I made profiles of each character, then a spreadsheet of all the characters. I also made a document filled with all the town names, houses, and places in the novel and descriptions for each place.

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Thankfully Jimmy allows me to use his laptop to write! And blog 🙂

After creating the outline, character profiles, and places document came the hardest part: starting. I was incredibly afraid to just start writing, but once I did I was fine. At first, I was writing thousands of words a day, and some days I still do. Other days I’m at 500 or less. I try to focus on quality over quantity!

I also created a scene list, which has been very helpful when I don’t want to go back through the whole document and find a specific detail. I try to write every day, but it doesn’t always happen. As for what time I write, I’m all over the place. Morning, noon, or night, if I have free time I try to hit the keyboard. I don’t have a schedule because I work different hours and jobs each day.

I’m currently about 30,000 words into my first draft. Being the journalism major that I am, I have gone back and edited a few times, but nothing too serious. I’ve heard that you should never edit a first draft until you’re finished, but it has been helpful for me to edit here and there so I keep my plot and characters’ voices focused.

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The biggest challenges so far have been choosing character names I like, writing from a male’s perspective (each chapter switches between a male and female as the first person narrator) and just staying dedicated to writing as much as I can. It’s way too easy to get distracted.

The best parts of this journey have been the learning experience of writing a book and having something that is inspired by various experiences I have had or have simply wanted to learn and write about. Basically, it feels amazing to create. I was asked if I will share the plot, and I may in due time. I’m still so protective of my “baby” and self-conscious about the story, but we’ll see if that changes as I get closer to finishing.

I don’t know if I’ll look into having my book published. If I really like the story, I will probably try. If not, I’ll be glad I embarked on this fun experience. Either way, it has been great and I’m following God’s lead for my life as best I can.

I think that’s everything?! Feel free to ask any other questions in the comments. Thanks, again, to everyone who is so supportive and encouraging. It means a lot to me!

A New Adventure

It’s taken me a while to find the courage to share a new adventure I’ve been pursuing, but I’m finally ready. As ready as I can be! The best place to start is the beginning, so here we go.

I have previously mentioned that since I was a child, I have wanted to write a book. I studied journalism at Penn State, but I haven’t used my degree in the sense that I don’t earn a living from writing. Sure, I blog. Yes, I’ve freelanced. Right now, though, I work as a personal assistant and dog sitter.

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Spending my days with dogs nourishes my soul ❤

I feel very blessed to be able to earn money working such fun jobs and having a flexible schedule that allows me to use my degree and passion in creative ways. I think it would be tough for me to work in the journalism field and still want to write for fun. I’ve never tried it, though, so I could be totally wrong.

My childhood dream of wanting to write a book has stayed with me my whole life, but for reasons I can’t explain, the time never felt right. Until recently.

Around Christmastime, I woke up one morning and the first thought in my brain was a story idea for a book. It was more of a question, like what if this happened to someone, then what? I let the idea sit in my head and heart over the holidays and began plotting the story out before the New Year.

I can’t describe the goofy grin on my face when I started to think about characters, plot, and what I wanted for the story. It took me a few weeks of driving myself (and probably Jimmy) crazy with questions and ideas before I outlined the gist of the plot. We would be eating dinner, and I would jump up and literally run to our office because I had to write down an idea right that very second. I started plotting in a notebook, then moved to a word document on my computer. Then I started a spreadsheet. Then I started another spreadsheet.

I bounced character ideas off my family and started to research topics I wanted to address, but wasn’t very knowledgeable on. The whole time I plotted, I didn’t tell a soul about my idea. I kept it a secret because I was afraid it was awful. I’ve heard that you should write the book you want to read, and that’s what I’m doing. I just worried that no one else would want to read it.

Once I gathered the courage to stop planning and actually start writing, I became even more excited. I wrote a few chapters. Then another few. I decided to tell my mom my story idea and she liked it. Then I sent her a few chapters and she said she loved it. I hit my tenth chapter and began to edit. I sent those chapters to my mom and she said she way dying to know what happened next. I told her I wasn’t even sure exactly what would happen next, ha.

So, that’s where I’m at right now. I’m writing a book. I was hesitant to share this with the “blog world” because I thought what if I fail at this or quit or hate what I wrote? I also felt like I was keeping this big secret because I blog about my life, and lately I spend a lot of my life writing. I just felt weird not sharing this new adventure. I don’t know where it will take me, but I’m loving it right now. 🙂

Have you ever pursued a dream you’ve had since you were young?