Life has led me on many adventures since my last post in June 2009. But now I'm back! With the help of supportive family and friends, the encouragement of great authors who came before me, a lot of coffee, NaNoWriMo, and a determined character named Andy (short for Andora), I am writing more than ever and loving it.
Over the last six years I have constantly been followed by shadows of characters that were waiting to have their stories told. I tried many times to satisfy them, but life and my internal critic always killed them before I could get the rest of their stories. That all changed when Andora Holbrook whispered from the tall grass of the meadow from my then workplace. She laughed at me with the challenge to tell her tale of missing persons, stolen artifacts, phantom islands possessing resources beyond our wildest imaginations, and the existence of magic. I took the challenge and started writing her story during the summer of 2014. But no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get past the first fifty pages. That was until I was challenged by NaNoWriMo 2015 (National Novel Writing Month).
At first I didn't think the 50,000 words in one month was a challenge that was right for me. I had already started my story and didn't want my creative genius to be constricted by a time constraint. No, I was going to write my novel perfectly at my own pace. It wasn't until November 3rd, 3 days into the challenge, that I realized how wrong I was and that NaNoWriMo was exactly what I needed. I needed the fire to be fueled not only with the desire to write, but also to win. Writing 50,000 words in one month is not an easy task especially considering I had only written about 14,000 words in a year. Without thinking twice I jumped in the race and set a pace of about 2,000 words a day. Each day I wrote and every milestone I hit encouraged me more to keep going. NaNoWriMo gave me the surge of adrenaline that I needed to help me reach my goal of completing my first finished manuscript.
Yay, I finished my novel! Well, not quite. I finished my first shitty draft or FSD. And, yes, that is the technical term for the original regurgitation of words that spread across the paper in a clumsy hurry to get all the ideas of a story out before it chokes you. Luckily no one will ever read that monstrosity of a first draft. But even after realizing what I had written was garbage, I had a new commitment to continue with the story. It has to be completely rewritten, but now I know what Andy's story is about and what it is not. When people asked me what my book was about before NaNoWriMo I couldn't answer them even though I knew every detail. After writing it all out I know now what works and what doesn't. I know how I have severely neglected my protagonist while allowing minor players to shine. I know now that little darlings that I thought had to be included must now die. I'm sure I'll shed a tear for them at one point, but in the end I will have a finished novel that successfully tells Andy's amazing story of loss, danger, intrigue, far off lands, and family secrets.
With the start of a new year, I have set goals for myself that will help me keep my promise to Andy to tell her story. They are not New Year's resolutions that are easily started and failed. No, these goals are a matter of such importance that I fear to fail would mean killing all current and potential characters that might linger or ever be born in my mind and soul including Andy Holbrook. I have established daily, weekly, and monthly goals that cut the elephant of writing a novel into much smaller pieces that are easier to consume. So far I'm ahead of my written goals and am greatly encouraged for what this year holds.
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