The Journey

My Writing Journey

Early Days

  Every journey has a beginning. Mine started when I was about ten years old. The oldest child, I often took over our play time, coming up with fantastic plots and characters that were revisited over and over again. Then, I would go and play with friends, and find their "play" was, well, boring. 

  One Christmas (I think it was Christmas, anyway), I was given a black and white notebook. I'm not sure what drove me, but one day, I came up with a female character, a villain, and some talking animals. And that was my very first, six page story. I immediately knew, though growing up was a long ways off, that that's what I wanted to do. Write. 

  And write I did. The stories slowly got longer, the writing less sloppy, the plot more put together. I filled up more than half that notebook with short little stories. I still have it, and look back at it with a smile on my face. 

Expansion

   Going into my teenage years, I read more often, and began getting serious, setting my sights higher, onto fully fledged novels and getting published. I got more notebooks for Christmas, though, sadly, they never filled up. I started story after story, but never got more than twenty to fifty pages, if that. 

  Eventually, I did fill a notebook, with a story I thought was going to take me places. I got nearly a hundred pages, and got really excited about it. That too, burned out, along with another after that featuring a red head who I couldn't put a name to. 

  I was beyond frustrated, but my imagination refused to let me be, no matter if I tried ignoring it or not. When I started working, I slowly fell out of both reading and writing. It didn't help. I was still restless, trying to figure out my life and what I was doing. I even tried NaNoWriMo 2017, but failed miserably. 

  Then, December 2017 rolled around.

The Here and Now

   Several things happened at once, I guess. I developed a deeper connection with my best friend that reignited my passion for the fictional world. About a year ago, I wanted to seriously dive in again and find something new to write about. The answer came in the form of anime.

  I'd grown up hating the genre, but since Netflix had so many shows, I thought, Why not? So, I began with Yu- Gi- Oh! and fell in love with it. Watching an episode one night, it just came to me. Out of nowhere. Just by watching something I'd once thought lame. 

  In January, I started the first draft and was mind- blown at how fast I progressed and the way I fell in love with it. Within six moths, I had a complete project. 

  So, I tried NaNo again. And guess what? I suddenly had a second draft within one month and I'd gotten a grand total of 50,011 words. And I somehow love my characters and plot even more now. Now, I'm starting my third draft, more optimistic than ever, and am reading more than I have in the past two years and being more productive. 

Beyond

  We can do this. My conclusion, from experience, is that it can take years, but the results are well worth the wait. Before you know, we'll have completed works and the next generation, or the current one, or even a hundred years from now, people will still read, and we'll make our mark in the world, however small or big they turn out to be.