Thursday, April 28, 2011

Bittersweet moments and my journey so far ...

I'm almost there, I've written in excess of 10,000 words this week and all that remains on my first book is a few chapters to wrap up the story. I'm both exhilarated and dismayed as the end looms near. Writing a book has been my dream for almost thirty years and I say dream because a goal is something I set myself and plan towards.

Writing a book has never been a goal because I never truly believed that I could do it (sad little sigh here at my lack of faith in myself) It's been an eye opening exercise as the words have flowed from my fingers in their hurry to erupt onto the screen. Over the years I've had so many false little starts and there's always been that little voice inside my head which has said you're not a writer, who are you fooling?

But July last year something monumental occurred, well monumental for me anyway. Big changes were afoot and I also discovered blogging. I wrote my first post on this blog called Stuck in a Rut and it was not long after this first post that I discovered my job was being made redundant. So while I'd made the decision to spread my wings this was really a kick in the pants that forced to me to get out of my rut.

I started off slow with maybe a post a week and by December I had begun to pick up speed. Blogging reopened the creative doors that had firmly been closed since I graduated from uni in 2007. I started writing my book towards the end of November with only a scene in my mind and a very vague idea of what it would be.

Now here I am 71,000 words later with an almost complete contemporary romance written entirely by me. Yes the story is fictional as are the characters but there is still so much of me written within it's pages. I'm not sure how you write a book without putting your personal stamp on it. It still remains to be seen whether It is publishable but that is no longer a concern, because at least I've done it.

I will be sad to let my characters go because ironically they've become close friends as I guide them along the path to realising their dreams and growing through their experiences. Much the same as the process of writing and blogging has done for me. It's helped me to grow, and has brought some incredibly wise and interesting people into my realm who comment and interact and make me think about the world in different ways. Thank you all for assisting my journey so far.

So you see, it is a bittersweet moment as I near the end of this journey. The truth is that now I know I will have to do it again because the sense of accomplishment is second to none and there are still so many words waiting to be set free.

So what about you, have you accomplished something which you never thought was possible?

To achieve the impossible; it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought ~ Tom Robbins

7 comments:

  1. Fi -- what a wonderful journey -- and accomplishment. And I remembeer that moment well -- as the end neared of my first novel, I feared to let my characters go -- I wanted to keep them near.

    It's okay my friend -- they'll always be with you!

    Hugs -- and congratulations.

    PS -- thank you for your wonderfully kind and supportive comments on my blog. The memories are jsut that -- memories -- like our characters we create -- they do not control me :)

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  2. First of all, congratulations on the 71,000 words and the nearly complete contemporary romance. :)

    Second, the blog carnival is up, if you'd like to go check it out.

    Now, let's see--to answer your question... I suppose that although I hoped for the best, I truly never thought my writing career would take off nearly as quickly nor as successfully as it did (six months). No complaints here, though! :)

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  3. Wow, well done, and I'm glad you have the feeling of accomplishment... What's the book called? xx
    :]

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  4. Hello Fiona -

    You mentioned how blogging brought the dormant creative juices in you. It happened to me also. I have written on and off through the years since I was a boy. I find that reading authors like your self and Jessica, whom lead me to your post tonight, allow me to practice my writing via commenting as I'm doing now. I think I spend more time commenting than I do writing but...it is writing none the less. Let's call it exercise. Happy Mothers Day to you and all mothers world-wide. :)

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  5. Catieeliza - the book is called 'When life gives you lemons - make lemonade' that may yet change because it's a little corny, but it sums up both the book and my take on life.

    BJBohls - I love the commenting side of blogging and have met some fabulous people along the way and yes it's exercise in the best possible way.

    Thank you both for popping by :-)

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  6. Jessica - love your idea of a Blog Carnival and thank you for bringing like minded people together.

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  7. Congratulations on being so close to finishing your novel! So tremendously exciting, though I can understand the mixed feelings. Interestingly I am in a similar predicament at the moment; I began writing my first novel last December, and I'm now about 72k in and writing faster and faster to finish it up. The feeling of accomplishment when I reach the end is, I think, likely to be tempered with some other feelings, but I can't wait to get there.

    Congratulations again and I hope you love it once it's done.

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