This is who I am. What this means as a mom varies on the level of your child's dedication. I have two boys who travel; one is U14 this year (currently STATE CHAMPIONS!) and one rejoins his old team as U12. Both boys will play for the middle school team as well, which requires practice 3 days a week with games the other 2. Then we practice 2 evenings a week for travel with games as far away as two hours on weekends. And oh yeah, there are tournaments over every holiday. And I love every minute of it.What this means for me as a writer...I spend a LOT of time in my car. Waiting. I decided three years ago to put that down time to good use. I was armed with my notebook, mechanical pencils galore, a very large coffee and some wild ideas about the whole thing. I wrote a pretty intense prologue (which was eventually hacked and chopped to pieces) and walked in the house immediately after practice and did a Google search on "warrior princess". (Go ahead, do it. You know you want to.) The ideas sprang to life from the research. They wrote themselves. The story was there, on the internet, in tiny bits and pieces, spread all over the globe. All I had to do was weave them together in such a way as to do them justice. And I failed.
Oh, I did finish the first draft. And I absolutely adore the main characters. And, although I am still in love with the story (I did post chapter 1 here on my blog), it still sits unfinished. Every now and then I hear Shivari whisper to me. (He is very needy sometimes) Unfortunately, HIS story, the second book in the series, is more compelling, and as of yet, unwritten. And I have moved on to another idea that has been plucking at the back of my mind since January. (I posted that first chapter also, FYI). There is so much to be written but there are so few moments in which to write. In addition to all the writing, there is still so much to LEARN about fine tuning the craft. I could literally spend hours pouring over the internet doing research. (and I have)
So for now I remain in the very deep and dark canyon that is writing. With each new achievement, I get one step closer to daylight. Use your moments. Every single one of them. There is no greater feeling than that of accomplishment. I will be there one day. One strong foothold at a time and I will see my goals become reality.
Just like my state champion.
What are your moments? Where are you when you take 5 or 10 minutes to make notes, research or write new words?
As a former soccer mom (even coach and president of the organization), I know exactly where you are. I could have never written back then. It wasn't until my kids were older and at least one was driving that I had the time. So that you're even able to do it now, in however small chunks you do it, is amazing. And The Seven Steps is not a failure. You wrote an entire novel! That is a ginormous accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI did, didn't I? I'll feel better about it when I can actually get it out there, but for now it is a great first accomplishment!
ReplyDeleteI couldn't have gotten anything written when they were younger. The older they got and the less they needed me, the more I was able to take advantage of my free time. I can't imagine what's going to happen *next month* when my oldest starts driving!
Oh Rene, The Seven Steps is no failure. It is a "step"ping stone. There is a reason why you wrote that first. Reflect on that. Why does Shivari still whisper, hmmmm? He's not done with you. I wouldn't call him needy, I'd call him persistent.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. He isn't done with me, and I am so glad! I really need to get to work on his story...the first two chapters tore my heart out. That's what SS was missing. I am glad that was the first. I know what needs to be done to fix it, just need to get back into that editing mindset. I will. And you'll be among the first to know!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments, and for being such a great cheerleader!