Steve left an encouraging comment to me the other day. It really got me thinking. So his comment.
Steve Evans says:
Hey Reena – you are a writer. An editor too, but a writer first off. Just because you’ve not written anything for a while doesn’t change that even one little tiny smidgen of an iota.
I worked in the media for a number of years because I thought it would help me to be a “proper writer” that is, a novelist. I was wrong. As you say,work just sucked out the energy. But I learned a lot about writing and when I chucked it and started writing fiction, it was a great help.
Anyway the point is that you never know what the future will bring. You have a great attitude about writing, and about life – so say I.
Hope the NatNoMo goes just exactly as you would wish.
Steve
For awhile now, I’ve had the idea in my head that writers write. Anyone with a published piece of work could be an author indefinitely, but writing was a status you had to constantly do to achieve. I still believe that… writers write.
Steve said, “Hey Reena — you are a writer.” I have to admit, it gave me a boost. However, I also had to ask myself, if I’m a writer… what the heck was I doing not writing? Haha
I thought of my unrealistic goal of knocking out a short story each week. That was the goal I made last week. I make all sorts of lofty goals I’ll never accomplish. That’s just me. 
And to be honest… it’s difficult to even get started on an unrealistic goal because it’s like trying to eat an elephant in one sitting.
Yesterday, I woke up thinking about my muse… and where it had gone. I thought about how ideas used to float to me in the shower. How I’d dream of plots and scenes to write the next day. Now… I don’t know where that creativity has gone. It’s kind of like going to school. As long as you keep going, your brain stays fresh and ready to work. Take a few decades off and it’s a struggle to get back into the game. HOWEVER… it only takes a few weeks/months for the brain to reboot and get in the learning mode.
I think writing is the same way (or so I hope).
I’m all over the place here. I guess that’s why it’s called rambling. Let’s get back to writers write. Instead of the elephant of a goal of writing a short story each week, I can begin by writing a little every day… something that doesn’t overwhelm me. It brought to mind I Loved You First.
I believe I was about half-way into writing the novel. It’d been on the side burner for awhile. Then I came across this group whichhad a daily goal of writing 100 words. I did some calculations and realized if I wrote 100 words a day, I’d have the book finished in about 6 months. What was great about the 100 words was it was outside of my current writing project. In my mind, it’d be a way to complete one extra book that year, which might never have been completed.
So now… I’m thinking to myself… why can’t I do that now? Why I can’t I be a writer who writes 100 words a day?
Thank you for your words of encouragement, Steve. I’m writing again.
Out of the dusty closet, I’ve pulled out a contemporary work called “The Sun Still Rises.” The word count is about 12K at the moment. It’s been a while since I’ve worked on it, so I’m not really sure where it’ll lead. At the moment, I envision it being a novelette. I’m thinking, I’ll probably double the word count… hit somewhere around 25K.
It’ll take me about 4 months to finish it if I write 100 words a day. So!!! Hopefully, I’ll have the first draft wrapped up by thetime I hit NaNo. Yes, yes… I know NaNo is only 3 1/2 months away. However, there will be days I write more than 100 words. The goal is to write 100 words a day… no days off. I did that with I Loved You First. I can do it again. After all, 100 words only takes about 15 minutes of my time. Certainly I can spare 15 minutes a day to reboot my writing brain.
Anyway… I’ve had this cover for a while. What do you think?
