I don’t read a lot of Stephen King (not a big fan of horror, though I think he is an absolutely amazing writer), but he’s got some great quotes. Came across this one this past week and it really struck me.
He said, “The scariest moment is always just before you start. After that, things can only get better.”
Boy, is that true!
You could probably apply that to just about any undertaking in life, but as it pertains to writing, he’s absolutely right. The start of a new project, the blank page staring you in the face—the thought of taking this somewhat nebulous idea of a story in your head and figuring out where to begin and how to start getting words onto paper can be daunting.
The idea of doing that to a deadline, even more so.
That’s where I was at the beginning of July. Back around May of last year, I signed up for a four-day online workshop on writing spy romances that would take place toward the end of July 2022. Summer’s usually pretty good for me when it comes to writing, and I figured there wouldn’t be any real scheduling issues.
Of course, a year ago I had no idea that my husband would be having a major back surgery the end of this June. Had I known that…I’d have probably thrown the proverbial towel in and said there was absolutely no way I’d be able to tackle writing for a workshop on top of all of that.
Oh, my. All I can say is thank God for my mom. She spent a couple of weeks with us after the surgery and encouraged me to go ahead and go for it. I am so grateful. Apart from all of the help she provided with managing children and food while I was taking care of my husband, she also enabled me to squeeze in writing time. I spent a lot of afternoons and late evenings during those first three weeks of July sitting with my husband, writing furiously.
I wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise. There were three short story assignments, with a variety of lead times and deadlines, and thanks to my mom and the grace of God, I made two of them.
Hence the retrospective consideration of the Stephen King quote above. It’s scary—which is really funny when you think about it because there’s no real danger involved—to stare at that blank page and figure out how to jump off into the story. But! Once you do, that’s when the real fun begins.
One of my mentors, Dean Wesley Smith, likens storytelling to riding a rollercoaster. It’s a great analogy.
Anyway, August passed in something of a blur as well. We started school, which always means finding new and different routines from what worked last year, and that’s especially true now that we officially have a high school student and a kindergartner in the house! My son is really excited about learning to read, and teaching him is taking me back to when I was his age and my mom taught me. Precious and mindboggling, all at the same time.
As of now, in early September, my husband is doing much better, and our children are still asking when Grandmommy is going to stay with us again. ::grin::
Writing Updates
Needless to say, my current projects mostly took a back seat while I was writing for the workshop in July. (Although I will say that the experience spawned a pretty cool novella that’s been a blast to write. Hoping to have more to announce on that front before the end of the year.)
I got back to them in August, however, and I am happy to announce that Finder Book 4: Overload is officially finished!
It’s made it through the editing and revision process, and I should have some release date news in the next week or so. Really excited about that. (If you haven’t seen them yet, I’ve posted the first three chapters for everyone to read.)
As far as Book 5 goes… I’m closing in on the end of the story, and I’m really enjoying the twists and turns it’s taken so far. I think you’ll like it.
I may even have come up with a title for it. We shall see. (Sometimes titles hit me immediately, and sometimes they lag behind. This one has lagged for a while.)
The Guardians Update
Not much progress to report yet. All the writing time I can carve out is currently going to finish Finder Book 5.
The Guardians Book 5 will move up the priority ladder once that novel is finished and I can turn my full attention to it. I’m looking forward to it—the story is blossoming inside my head and I can’t wait to dive back into this universe.
Anyway, that’s it for now. Summer weather is winding down and we’re sliding toward fall. I’ve always loved September. Golden days and beautiful weather and trees just starting to think about changing toward the end of the month.
Not ready for cold weather or really short days yet, but I think I’m finally ready for fall.
…although, come to think of it, fall means probably giving up my iced coffee. On second thought, maybe I’m not ready for fall yet. I do love my iced coffee…. ::grin::