Chapter 1. Introduction
A blank page. A million thoughts running through my head. Am I really going to attempt to write a novel? "Yep", that is what I told myself a year ago. My journey has been long. There have been numerous pitfalls that I can vividly still see and feel. Yet they did not hinder me. I have always been a story teller and now I am taking the leap into this new chapter of my life.
I am no expert in the matter and the only background I have in writing is the simple joy of writing essays in college on Greek Mythology, the Romans, and discovering hidden mysteries in the United Kingdom. So, here I am sharing my journey from Blank page to Novel. Perhaps inspiring another to take the same leap. Welcome to the World of Chaos and Research as I delve into writing my first novel. Hopefully the fruits of my labor will lead to a New York Times best seller.
Chapter 2. How did this all begin?
As I sat waiting for my daughter at gymnastics I was able to make a mom friend. She is fabulous and writes tons of fan fiction. As we spoke and learned about each other she introduced me to the world of NaNoWriMo. For those of you who do not know about NaNoWriMo, it is a complete game changer if you ever desire to write a novel. She explained National Novel Writing Month, NaNoWrimo (https://nanowrimo.org), is a creative writing platform that allows you to write your story with tons of resources and even a writing boot camp. I was intrigued and thought "Why not." I needed a distraction. My world was in chaos and writing would be my escape and self-care. As an active mom with 2 kiddos and a full time job as an educator. I took every spare moment to write. Whether it was at the dance studio waiting for my daughter's classes to end or the gymnastics training center, I lugged my chromebook everywhere to write a few words. Sometimes the writing bug hit me hard and others, let's just say were more two words and done. It was liberating to sit and create my own world, characters, and brush up on a little of my history.
First was NaNoWriMo boot-camp, followed by setting goals using the platforms resources. I do want to mention, I am not an ambassador or spokesperson for NaNoWriMo. I simply love to share all the resources I used to finish my manuscript for any aspiring novelist. The boot-camp in the beginning was overwhelming, as I tend to go OCD overboard in anything I do. Once I organized myself, completing the camp led me to completing an entire world with characters. I believed it would only be one novel but as I soon realized my story was becoming a series.
Next week I'll cover how I kept myself motivated and tracked my progress. Stay tuned for Chapter 3.
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