Writing a Novel is a Journey
Where am I at in this novel-writing journey?
To be honest, I’m not as far as I thought I would be by this point in the school year. My boys went off to school at the end of August, leaving me home without them from about 9:15 am to 3:40 pm. In those short hours they are gone, I split my time between maintaining our household (laundry, cleaning, cooking, organizing etc.), helping run my husband's business, which not only includes accounting and paperwork, but now doing his Facebook marketing ads, and working on my novel. I've gotten into a nice routine, but sometimes the kids are home sick, I have to do errands, or go to appointments for myself or the boys. I thought I'd have the first draft done by now, but I'm just not there yet.
When I start to think I'm not getting enough done, I remind myself that it's okay to slow down. The pace of life I had while commuting to my teaching job was not sustainable, and I was struggling mentally and physically, which ultimately led me to making this huge life change. I think it's been ingrained in me that my worthiness comes from my productivity, but I am working to retrain my brain. Rest is an integral part of success. I don't have to run myself to the ground before allowing myself to slow down. Have you ever struggled with those same things?
As for my novel, this week I am working on chapter twenty-eight. These chapters have been an emotional rollercoaster because I have been writing about labor and delivery stories for my main character, and I had to transport my mind back to the days I gave birth to my sons. It's exciting to be writing the climax and resolution pieces as it feels like I've been waiting forever to get to these parts, but I also really want to capture the experience correctly!
I have about thirty total chapters outlined. I may need one or two more to wrap up the story, so I'm almost there! Although it's taking me longer than I predicted, I am okay with it. There's no critical deadline I've imposed upon myself, I want to enjoy my creative process. A surefire way to kill someone's creativity is to rush them and make them feel like they are just slapping words on a page. Revisions will come next, then I'll be looking for a professional editor. I've got leads on two of them.
Each day my progress looks different; it's not always measured by the amount of words I can get down on the page. Initially I focused on getting those high word counts, but now I know that you can write a lot, but have said little. If you're wondering what 110k words looks like in a Word document, it's about 280 pages, but likely over 400 book pages. It's a little discouraging to think about throwing out so much work, but I have to view it as part of the process. I am working on being more direct and concise, as my current word count is over the normal genre length, I'll have to cut at least 10k from my final manuscript. I am a new author, and the only way to gain confidence in what I'm doing is to keep writing. It's messy and uncomfortable moving through this process, but every day I get the hang of it a little more, and I hope someday to feel like I've mastered it.
I anticipate another few weeks of writing and I'll finally have a first draft. My sister, Chelsea, is reading my book now, even though I don't have the ending written yet. She is giving me valuable insights on different chapters, storylines, and characters that I wasn't necessarily able to see for myself. It's exciting and scary to let someone read my work. It takes a lot of courage to let someone critique my writing, but I trust that she won't crush my dreams.
No matter what goals you have in life, it's important to have people on your side who will encourage you, rather than make you feel like you're not good enough, or that you're silly for trying. No matter how old you are, give yourself permission to be a beginner. This year I've been a beginner not only at writing, but in social media marketing, website design, Quickbooks accounting, business taxes, HR practices, e-mail newsletter campaigns, and finally dipping my toes into the stock market!
It's very freeing to undertake something new, and allow yourself the space to grow your skills and knowledge. It's never to late to set a new goal and learn something new! I'm always here to cheer you on. I'd love to know what you hope to learn this year.
