One morning I woke up smiling from a lovely, romantic dream. I had finished reading Jane Austen’s Persuasion the day before and had thus been gifted with a sappy dream in which two life-long friends fell in love. I basked in the memory as long as possible before a stinky foot stepped on my face and the spell was broken. I wrestled my 3-year-old out of his jammies and hurried the kids through breakfast. Then I dropped my oldest off to first grade and welcomed-in our sweet neighbor friend who had come for a playdate.
Finally, when all the kids were playing somewhat peacefully, I grabbed my laptop and tuned out the chaos and noise, punching out the very first paragraph of my book. . .
Finally, when all the kids were playing somewhat peacefully, I grabbed my laptop and tuned out the chaos and noise, punching out the very first paragraph of my book. . .
I wrote about the scene from my dream, my heart leaping with each word that flowed from my fingertips, and then I turned around to see that something else was also flowing. Our little neighbor friend was standing in a puddle of pee.
Well, that was the end of my writing session. It was back to real life—mopping and laundry, teaching kids to share and negotiating veggies over pop tarts. But I had taken the first step of what would become my first novel, The Passions and Perils of the Insatiably Hungry.
I had wanted to write a novel for years. I thought about it secretly—quietly—desperately. I had written plenty of short prose pieces, children’s books, and poems over the years, but I wanted to try my hand at a novel. I ached to write one so badly and yet I didn’t know where to begin such an enormous venture, especially since I didn’t have any idea what to write about.
I looked into writing classes at the local college, but ultimately I decided in order to be the best writerpossible, I would start by reading as much as possible. This was not easily done as a mom of three busy boys, but I did my best to fill every spare moment with reading. I read intelligent books, non-fiction, quirky humor, love stories, children’s books. My only steady requirement for a book was that it be clean and that it be quality. (I broke that quality rule a couple of times when it came to the love stories, but sometimes a good blush can more than make up for clumsy writing.)
And then after reading all I could get my hands on for a couple of years, I took the next step into writing my novel. I entered a local writing contest. Put on by the local library, the contest required me to write a 500 word piece with a very specific theme. I found the assignment quite boring, but the act of writing and entering the contest was a thrill for sure. And to my surprise I got 3rd place! For me, this was a huge triumph. Sure this was just a local contest with barely over fifty entries, but out of all of them I got third place and it gave me the courage to move forward in my writing dreams.
Someone told me that one of the very best books about learning to write is by Stephen King. To be honest, I have never read a Stephen King book before, but King is the king of fiction, so I checked out his book from the library. I highly recommend it! On Writing is a two-part book: one part is an autobiography about Stephen King’s life and his journey as a writer. The second part teaches how to write a book. I only read the latter, and I loved it! He was generous and encouraging; and did you know that Stephen King often does NOT use a plot map or outline on many of his stories? It was this very detail that gave me the guts to begin my novel. I realized I didn’t have to have a grand plot all figured out. I didn’t even have to know all of my characters yet—I just had to begin.
It took almost five years to finish this first novel. That first grader I mentioned earlier is now in middle school, we have a fourth son, my husband changed careers, we moved, I homeschooled for a year, but through it all I wrote when I could. I truly did things the hard way this time. Next time I will be much more prepared, but I wouldn't do it any other way because I learned so much during the process. The moral of the story is, you have to start somewhere. And I’m so thankful I took the plunge, despite all the cards stacked against me and despite all the unknowns. You can too!
Want to learn more about where to begin with writing a book? From finding an editor, considering an agent, and working through pitfalls I never saw coming—stay tuned. That post is coming soon.
Well, that was the end of my writing session. It was back to real life—mopping and laundry, teaching kids to share and negotiating veggies over pop tarts. But I had taken the first step of what would become my first novel, The Passions and Perils of the Insatiably Hungry.
I had wanted to write a novel for years. I thought about it secretly—quietly—desperately. I had written plenty of short prose pieces, children’s books, and poems over the years, but I wanted to try my hand at a novel. I ached to write one so badly and yet I didn’t know where to begin such an enormous venture, especially since I didn’t have any idea what to write about.
I looked into writing classes at the local college, but ultimately I decided in order to be the best writerpossible, I would start by reading as much as possible. This was not easily done as a mom of three busy boys, but I did my best to fill every spare moment with reading. I read intelligent books, non-fiction, quirky humor, love stories, children’s books. My only steady requirement for a book was that it be clean and that it be quality. (I broke that quality rule a couple of times when it came to the love stories, but sometimes a good blush can more than make up for clumsy writing.)
And then after reading all I could get my hands on for a couple of years, I took the next step into writing my novel. I entered a local writing contest. Put on by the local library, the contest required me to write a 500 word piece with a very specific theme. I found the assignment quite boring, but the act of writing and entering the contest was a thrill for sure. And to my surprise I got 3rd place! For me, this was a huge triumph. Sure this was just a local contest with barely over fifty entries, but out of all of them I got third place and it gave me the courage to move forward in my writing dreams.
Someone told me that one of the very best books about learning to write is by Stephen King. To be honest, I have never read a Stephen King book before, but King is the king of fiction, so I checked out his book from the library. I highly recommend it! On Writing is a two-part book: one part is an autobiography about Stephen King’s life and his journey as a writer. The second part teaches how to write a book. I only read the latter, and I loved it! He was generous and encouraging; and did you know that Stephen King often does NOT use a plot map or outline on many of his stories? It was this very detail that gave me the guts to begin my novel. I realized I didn’t have to have a grand plot all figured out. I didn’t even have to know all of my characters yet—I just had to begin.
It took almost five years to finish this first novel. That first grader I mentioned earlier is now in middle school, we have a fourth son, my husband changed careers, we moved, I homeschooled for a year, but through it all I wrote when I could. I truly did things the hard way this time. Next time I will be much more prepared, but I wouldn't do it any other way because I learned so much during the process. The moral of the story is, you have to start somewhere. And I’m so thankful I took the plunge, despite all the cards stacked against me and despite all the unknowns. You can too!
Want to learn more about where to begin with writing a book? From finding an editor, considering an agent, and working through pitfalls I never saw coming—stay tuned. That post is coming soon.