I did it. I finished my novel. After three years of floundering through, (I had no clue what I was doing!), and second guessing myself, I finally completed my first book!
Am I celebrating? You better believe it! When I typed the words THE END on the page, I sat there in the darkened room basking in the glow of my computer screen. Then I shared the milestone on social media with all the writing groups I belong to. They, of course, were very supportive with lots of virtual love shining through in the claps, hearts, likes, and lovely comments.
I told family and friends, some of who, I think, doubted how serious I was about actually writing a novel, or ever finishing one. As I was writing the story, I wondered if they were right. Could I really do it? Should I, a middle-aged person with a busy career in a non-writing field, even consider taking on a new challenge this big?
The answer for me, was most definitely YES!
Here’s the thing. If I can do it, you can, too. I definitely don’t fit the mold of the typical writer, and honestly, I’m not sure if that mold actually exists. If you are a person who works at a job that takes up a huge portion of your time, who has family responsibilities that eat up most of the rest of your hours, and for whom the word “tired” has meaning and power beyond what the dictionary assigns to it, then we might be cut from the same writing cloth. If you scrounge out time for writing when you can and try as you might, cannot keep to a writing schedule with any regularity, then we definitely might be kindred writing spirits!
How I finished my novel:
- I sat down and wrote the scene that was burning a hole in my skull, just to get it “on paper”.
- I created a list of characters with basic characteristics so I would be able to remember them –middle aged brains don’t remember things like they used to–this became invaluable once I got deeper in the novel
- I wrote a kind of outline grid. Just one or two sentences about each scene and whose point of view it was written in in each box. I moved them around or changed them completely as I progressed.
- I shared with my closest friends and family, the ones I knew would be supportive no matter what, about what I was trying to do. If they were skeptical, they hid it well, bless them!
- I bought a book about writing plots from my local bookstore. It helped me with the basic structure of a novel. I also googled “how to write a novel”. Oh yes, I did. Don’t judge.
- I joined five or six online writing groups. This eventually whittled down to about three that were a good fit for me. I asked questions, and I found that even if we were in different places in our writing journey, we had common issues with our work. The support and the knowledge these people share is amazing.
- I shared a couple of scenes with some writers in those writing groups. They liked my story idea, but I learned I didn’t know how to write dialogue quotations correctly. I dug up a style manual and reviewed, I read my favorite authors to see how they do it, and I googled it, too. Yes, I did. No judgement.
- I wrote in spits and spurts for about three years. I tried to keep to a regular schedule, but it didn’t always work out. I did not beat myself up about it, either. I just wrote when I could and enjoyed discovering that I could write something that resonated deep down. I tried to surprise myself.
- I went to a couple of local writer’s workshops and met some writers. I have to tell you, they are the most encouraging people you would ever want to meet! The inspiration was priceless!
- I stopped revising as I went. I finally turned off my inner editor and pushed through. This was probably the biggest thing that helped me finish.
That’s my journey so far. Maybe these steps will work for you. Maybe you’ll follow a different path, and that’s okay. What matters is, you don’t give up on your dream. If I can do it, you can too! I can’t promise that it will be easy. Ask questions. Read books about writing. Join a group. Get your ideas out of your head and onto the page. You can do it. You can!
Now a new phase begins. I have to edit and revise many times before my book will be ready for publication. I’m okay with that. A new bend in the road that is my writing journey leads to new experiences, new challenges, and even greater joys. This middle aged writer is ready for it. Bring it on!
Originally published at deajones.wordpress.com on August 2, 2018.
