Going through all of my notes

It's amazing how much paperwork you accumulate over the span of about ten/twelve years when writing a novel.
I decided to go through all of my old notes on the story since I began writing it and it's amazing too see how far I have come.
I may not have everything figured out, but with in these notes lies the complete story, I just have to shift through them to find the little gold nuggets.

It's true that I have underestimated how far along I have come. When you are so close to the project it's easy to get lost and think that nothing is happening.
It was two of my best friends that were the ones that made me step back and appreciate how much I had accomplished and how close I was to the finished novel.
When I went through my cabinet yesterday to get all of my old notes for the story, I thought I was going for a small stack of paper but it was five or ten times bigger than I had originally thought.

We always judge our selves so harshly and I realized that all the hard work I had been doing over the years wasn't worthless, it was a preparation for this. It's important to remember that when you  are doing something you love, something that makes you happy, that it is never a waist of time.

At least now I have learned to appreciate all of the sleepless nights over the years working on this story. All the times I was glued to the laptop in a writing frenzy, to exited to stop even for a minute. I know I am not getting paid to write, or to invest all of my time doing it, but it doesn't matter for me. This is what I love and one day, probably sooner than I think, I know it will pay off. Even if it doesn't I will never regret one minute of it ; )

A preview of my work plan

This is the bare bones of my writing plan for the next month.

The importance of Pen and Paper

                                 


I am reminded of a scene from the movie The Words. It's a story about a struggling writer that stumbles on a manuscript that changes his life. I recommend you watch it so I am not going to go into details about the movie but the scene that got my attention and captured the essence of a serious writer is when the old man comes over and asks if Rory could sign his copy of Rory's book. Roy searches for a pen but he doesn't have one on him. He asks the old man if he could borrow a pen from him and the old man looks at him a little surprised and says something along the line of  "a writer that doesn't carry around a pen?" Rory only replies "It's a reading day"

The old man so clearly distinguishes himself from Rory right then and there when they first meet that it hit home for me.

I think you can chose to write, but I don't think you chose to be a writer.

Being a writer means so much more than just typing a few words, it's a passion that knows no bounds. It's a form of obsession that takes over your whole life. It becomes such an integral part of it, that without it you won't function right. This is why what the old man said hit me so. If writing is such a serious part of your life you should take it serious, and to take it seriously you should always be prepared.

This is where the importance of pen and paper come in. You never know when ideas come, how big or how small, or how important they are. You could be on the bus, driving home from work, waiting for the doctor, on vacation, like me just about to fall asleep or even like Rory on a reading day. There is no right or wrong time for ideas to come, and they don't give you a notice before they arrive.

I always have a small notebook in my purse with a few pens that I take with me everywhere I go, even if it's for a quick run to the gas station and back. When I want to work on the novel I carry the main notebook with me in my purse.  Over the years I have come to feel naked if I don't have a notebook with me or near me at all times. In the rare cases I leave the notebook somewhere I at least have to have a pen.

Most writers will know the importance of writing everything down, even the smallest detail. I know we want to pride our self's on how great our memories are, but being realistic, with everything that is happening around us every day, how in the world are you going to remember it all.

Three more weeks of outlining- Then the writing

Three weeks might not be a long time, but I think I don't need any more than that. I have been working on this novel now for about fifteen years and it is time that I just jump in and finish it. As much fun as outlining is it is a form of procrastination when done for to long. Some novels take longer to outline than others depending on the size and scope of the novel, but that shouldn't keep you from writing forever and with my little girl on the way in around four months I don't have that much time to spare.

It is do or die (so to speak) for us, I want to make this a career and what better time to jump into that but before she comes into the world. This is the last time for the next year or two ( maybe even more) that I will have this kind of freedom to write. I am not doing anything else with my time and to write two thousand words a day, six days a week for twelve weeks could be done with a baby so I should have no problem doing it with all the time in the world.

I also have to commit to the novel and push my self to finish it. It is a lot easier to fantasize about publishing a novel but that will never happen if I just keep on "outlining" it forever. Coming to terms with that the first manuscript will be horrendous is part of the process and inevitable fact. The sooner I say that's okay and start writing the sooner I will have a book in my hands that I could publish. Never before.

With how much I have gotten so far regarding the novel in the last two or three weeks I think three weeks more is plenty of time. I have great friends that have been there for me when I need a sound board for my ideas and where my story is heading and what more could a writer ask for. The only thing that could come in my way is me and this time I won't let that happen.