Kay DiBianca is away from TKZ for a bit longer, so today I am sharing her post on the journey of being a novelist.
How Did I Get Here?
When I sat down at my desk a few days ago, the room suddenly turned dark, and there was a loud buzzing sound. I realized I had entered a wormhole, and I was being transported back in time to a day several years ago.
* * *
I was running on a dirt trail in a park near my home and I was listening to an audiobook on my iPod Shuffle. The book was one of the Rabbi Small mysteries by Harry Kemelman, and I was enjoying the story. As I jogged by a fence and around a turn, a thought lit a fire in my brain. I could write a mystery as good as the one I was listening to! It would be fun to write a novel just to see what it would be like. I finished my run, returned home, showered and dressed. Then I sat down in a recliner in our living room with my computer on my lap and began to type.
* * *
The wormhole suddenly closed, and I was back at my desk, a relatively new, six-foot-long testimony to my dedication to this writing journey. Desk-reorg day is later in the week, so the desk is messy, piled with papers and post-it notes – reminders of upcoming events and to-dos I shouldn’t ignore.
Two whiteboards sit on the back of the desk, leaning against the wall with lists of books to read and others I’ve read and need to review. A map of the Hero’s Journey is magnetically tacked to one of the whiteboards along with a few inspirational sayings. Reminders to Make Haste Slowly, Be Intentional, Make It Count.
My writing calendar is just inside the middle drawer of the desk. A glance at the page tells me about my obligations this month for blog posts, book promotions, meetings, and everything else that’s writing-related.
The Windows 10 laptop in front of me on the desk houses dozens of directories containing information from branding to short stories, from newsletters to marketing graphs. This is where I handle email, write articles, post to social media, create jpgs and pngs to market books and share thoughts on writing.
A second laptop, a Mac, sits on the desk’s pullout shelf to my left. It’s owned by the publishing company my husband and I formed in order to publish our own works. I use it to format and publish the final copies.
A third laptop, another Mac, stays on the bar in the kitchen where I can glance over an occasional news story while I eat breakfast. Scrivener lives on that Mac, and it accompanies me to my office recliner, along with a glass of sparkling water when I sit down to spend serious time on my WIP.
A list of writing goals is taped to the back of my office door so I see it every time I close the door to begin work.
Bookshelves against the wall next to my recliner are filled with books on the craft of writing, constant reminders of how much I still have to learn. The bottom shelf contains copies of my three published novels as well as my husband’s recently published debut novel. Three-ring binders contain pages of notes on each of my books as well as several works-in-progress.
Other bookshelves in my office and throughout the house contain favorite tomes. (I really should spend some time reorganizing so I don’t have to go on safari just to find what I’m looking for.)
* * *
How did I get here? I was going to write just one novel. It was going to be fun, an act of exploration, like climbing a mountain. Do it once for the experience.
But then I discovered the craft and the joy of writing.
So TKZers: When did you decide to write that first novel? How did you get to the present moment? Were you surprised by the journey? Are you going to stay the course?
I ran out of room for any more needlepoint projects. For a creative outlet, I was playing with fanfiction, and after a few short stories, I wanted to see if I could write something original. It’s been about 20 years now, and over 30 books, so I guess I stuck with it.
30 books! Yeah, I think that means you’ve stuck with it. Congratulations Terry.
I’ve told this story many times at conferences. I was 35 and had fallen into a pattern of not sleeping. One night as I stared at the ceiling, a man appeared in my vision. He stood at a window with smoke trailing toward the sky. Then he turned to me and said, “My life wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.”
I started telling myself stories of what went wrong in his life. He went away and other people came to live in my head but they wouldn’t go away until I wrote their stories down. I eventually sent one to Woman’s World and they published it, but it was a very long journey before my first novel was published.
Such a great story, Pat. I love it that your characters won’t leave you alone until you tell their stories.
I don’t remember a specific moment but probably when my third grade teacher Miss Parker encouraged me. I lived in books and wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Kept writing through college until real life got on the way. Then it went on hold for years until we sold our last business and moved to Montana. I took a creative writing class at the community college and the dam burst. All the stories collecting in my brain during decades of working poured out. Been at it ever since.
My first novel was published after I hit Medicare age. So it’s never too late.
Good afternoon, Debbie.
Elementary school teachers have inspired so many of us — even if it took retirement to realize the dream.
I’ve told this story many times. After being convinced by college professors that writing couldn’t be taught, especially from writing books, I spent years believing that. I practiced law. Then one day my wife and I went to a matinee and saw a movie that blew my socks off: Moonstruck. I came out of the theater and told my wife I had to try to write, because I wanted to make people feel the way I was feeling. That started a long journey of study, beginning with screenwriting. That taught me structure, which served me well when I wrote a legal thriller that got me a five-book contract.
Writing CAN be taught.
I remember your story well, Jim. You made a follower of me when I read the initial pages of Plot and Structure where you explained that writing can be taught. That gave me the confidence to keep writing.
I wrote a Christmas play in 2013, which was a hit in our church.
The play became a novel (my first) in 2015ish. Another 5 books followed.
That’s my story & I’m stickin’ to it…
😉
Good for you, Deb. Six novels and counting.
I should clarify…2 novels, 4 other books…
I think, at best, I’ll be a one novel author. The idea for my WIP started about 40 years ago when I was working in Saudi Arabia. The Arab News had an article about a battery development in Israel. I wondered why this particular development was of enough interest to be published in an Arab newspaper. That led to the engineer in me wondering about potential uses for the advancement, which lead to… Well, you know the rest of that story.
As you can see at that rate, I’d be 127 when I got near the end of my second novel, so don’t hold your breath.
As SWMBO often reminds me, “It’s been a hell of a ride and it ain’t over yet!”
Hi Marshall. One good book is worth all the work. (I had to look up SWMBO 🙂 )
I had to look it up, too.
😂
I lost my newspaper job, got tired of moping around, and wrote a newspaper mystery. Where I killed my editors.
Sweet revenge. 🙂
For my part I spent years struggling to write fiction that worked while also battling self-doubt. When I began walking “the path of fiction writing craft” in 2008 after attending my first writer’s conference that August. I learned the dynamics of story and structure, and just over a year later, sold my first story.
I’ve also learned that grounding yourself in fiction craft can be an antidote for the self-doubt which plagues so many writers, myself included.
Self-doubt seems to be endemic with writers. I think it has something to do with that *** cursor blinking on an empty screen.
Btw, thanks so much for sharing some old posts of mine, Dale, while I’m on leave. I didn’t even remember writing this one, but I enjoyed reading it! I hope to be back soon.
😍😍😍