The desire to be an author is something that I believe was instilled upon me. There isn’t an exact moment I can point to and say, “that’s when I knew.” It was always there!
Even though I had that desire, I never really did anything about it. There was a period of time during my middle school years where I would do some writing. It was more out of entertainment than anything else. My writing journey truly began for me in 2007.
Putting Pen To Paper
In the year 2007, I finally made the decision to “put pen to paper” on my writing ideas. I pulled out my laptop and let the ideas flow out of me. I remember creating a document and wrote down a brief synopsis for about 7 or 8 different story ideas.
Some of these ideas blossomed from works I had created back in middle school. Others were new ideas I had recently come up with. I would spend many nights bringing these ideas to fruition. Mostly I was plotting. I created characters, honed in on who they were, and drafted plot points.
It felt so good to get these ideas out and to finally release them from my mind.
My 2007 Life
As writers, we know our lives can tend to be lonely ones. When I look back on 2007 and 2008, I mostly remember spending lots of time to myself. During this time, my life consisted of a part-time job and going to school. I hung out with my friends but it wasn’t something that consumed my time.
To be honest, I didn’t mind the solitude. I’ve always been the type of person that enjoys alone time. Really, I wasn’t truly alone. I had my writing.
I can remember sitting in my bed for hours each night working on different ideas. I would put on TV shows or movies that inspired whichever work I was currently plotting. It helped keep me inspired and even ignited new ideas. There were two specific WIP’s that I focused on. One of them is my current work in progress. (Yes, I’ve been working on this for over 10 years!!)
The Power of Walking
A majority of my writing seemed to take place at night, but I worked on it during the day, too. One of my tried-and-true ways of beating writer’s block is taking a walk. Perhaps this is where this habit stems from. But during this time, I used to walk almost every day.
I would grab my hot pink iPod shuffle and head out for a walk. Each time was different. If I walked all the way down the street and back, it was about 45 minutes. But if I walked a loop, it was about an hour and a half.
As I walked, I would become consumed in my thoughts. I lived in a rural area and while there were plenty of houses I walked past, there was a kind of solitude to these walks. I wasn’t on any busy roads with lots of traffic. It was rare that a car passed by me or I saw another person. It was like being alone but surrounded by fresh air. I felt inspired!
This practice felt (still feels) so sacred to me. It’s likely just because I spent so much time at this point in my life thinking about these novels, but the area that I walked has such power over me in terms of inspiration. I have yet to find another walk that truly matches how this area made me feel. I did come close but have moved from that area. Since I no longer live at my parent’s house (where these walks would take place), I don’t have the opportunity to enjoy this same stroll anymore.
What’s fascinating to me is that I can still remember where ideas popped up for me, even now, during these walks. I remember exactly where I was when I had an ah-ha moment about turning my current WIP into a series.
Y’all – that was over 10 years ago. And I still remember. These walks were magical to me.
That Feeling of Nostalgia
When I look back on that time, I have such a nostalgic feeling. My “job” wasn’t writing. I was working and going to school. But my writing was a huge part of how I spent my time. As I’ve grown older, I’m not able to devote this much time to my writing.
When you spend hours upon hours working on a novel, it all becomes a part of you. It’s all you can think about! I didn’t have much else going on in my life at that point, so my novels took up most of my headspace. Now? I have a loving fiancé and an adorable baby boy. They’re my everything and they’re number one in my mind now. I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s not that I want to replace them with my writing thoughts. Now it’s more about making room for my ideas. I’m still trying to work out how to manage that.
I’m really grateful of past-me for choosing to take that step to starting my writing journey. Did I write perfectly? No. Was everything novel-worthy? No. But it was all a start.
It’s over 10 years later now and here I am, pursuing my writing dream.
