It took me six years to turn the opening scene that blossomed in my imagination to the real-life debut mystery novel that’s now on sale at places like Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble and Kobo. I answered intangible little questions that rolled around in my mind, and I distilled three of them that I need to remember:
Incremental goals: Like compounding interest in your investments, small, regular deposits into The Bank of Words build up. I spun my wheels for months, trying to make the last push to finish, but it wasn’t until I gave myself a minimum daily goal of working 10 minutes a day that I got the momentum to get it done.
Support: Having a few key people in my corner made all the difference. Last year, I had regular talks about craft with my lovely friend-turned-editor, Debbie Whittall, and encouragement from my creative confidant, Tracey Matheson (on Instagram @apassionateperspective with beautiful thoughts and wanderings). We’ve continued that as we move into new projects and goals.
Be Kind to Your Writer Self: I hope it doesn’t take me another six years to write a novel. I hope I’ve learned a few lessons along the way, created some positive habits and scrapped some not-so-helpful ones. But there’s no way I’m going to get everything exactly right. Along the way, I’ve learned to be happy with what I manage every day, and celebrate what I accomplish.
Awesome observations (about an awesome novel!)