November is here and time for another post to the Insecure Writers Support Group, created by Alex Cavanaugh. To stay on track, our topics need to be about struggles, insecurities, challenges, or encouragement. Today I choose challenges...
On September 30, at 12:38 PM, I completed book #3,
announcing the arrival of my new born, Time
Trials. Still steps to take before the final product is up for publication,
but the characters finally allowed me to say DONE (my delivery date).
I speak only for myself as my writing career didn’t begin
until my late 50’s, but writing a book is like having a baby…somewhat. There’s
the initial stage where not much is showing. A lot of excitement, identified my
characters, created the story board and off I go.
A bit into the story I began to feel rumblings of unease.
Something didn’t feel right, although the belly of the book was beginning to
show. Then, the ding, ding, ding goes off. What I’ve spent 8-12 months writing,
turns out to be more the middle of the book. Rats.
This sometimes happens when I give free-range to my
characters.
Thank goodness the human female gestation periods don’t work
this way. Can you imagine a woman having to “re-do” the first trimester? (I hear
screams)
After some hormonal temper tantrums, I began the journey of
creating the first part of the book. I rationalize, hey…by the time I catch up
to my original beginning, I’ll be two-thirds done.
Wrong.
Wading through the maze of publishing and marketing my first
two books, Saving Gracie & Partly Sunny, I found less and less writing
time geared toward Time Trials. Where
did the hours, weeks, months go? Literally, days raced by in a blur.
I have two pets who can tell time. They sat at
my feet day after day. At five o’clock each afternoon they'd move in closer, if that is possible, and stare at me like “uh…duh, have you not looked at
the clock lately?”
Seriously? Didn’t I just feed you guys? You mean another day
has already slipped away? They nodded and proceeded with their meal.
Having a baby is a labor of love. Writing a book is a labor
of love. My initial thoughts about the story line for Time Trials turned into much, much more “labor” than I anticipated.
Tons of research later, which I found I actually enjoyed, year #1 rolled into
year #2. Some days I’d sit at the computer and pat myself on the back after rolling out 1,000-2,000 words. Then I’d
see a post on Facebook like:
“Had a creative idea when I woke up this morning. Have
already cranked out 3,000 words and still going.”
Really? Where’s my light saber? I feel like zapping something...
Other days the typing went so slow one would
think both hands had been tied behind me with a pencil wedged in my mouth pecking
out each word.
Frustrating? Yes
Rewarding? Yes
Completing a novel? Ecstatic
According to my calculations, my trimesters on Time Trials lasted 8 months, which means
my book/baby gestation period surpassed an African elephant’s pregnancy by 2.5
months…ouch
I
Challenging...
