Monday, October 3, 2011

In the Middle

So two weeks ago (yeah sorry about that), I wrote about my beginning as a writer.  That one space of time where my life went from easy and ordinary to confusing and extraordinary.   Yes, writing can make your life confusing ex. Sunday me having written all afternoon, I sit on my couch crying.  Not because it's bad prose, not because I'm upset about life.  But because I'm emotionally drained from reworking Foxtrot.  See crazy.

But this is about my middle.  That awkward space between me turning away from fanfiction and my first novel. Yes it was a scary time.  Yes it was a scary novel.  Yes I'm going to tell you about it.

The title of my first ever novel was called: The Debate Closet Debacle.  (nope it was not whimsical.  It was like Harry Potter meets present day America meets Policy debate--which yes, I did in fact do.)

It was about three girls and how they became friends and bonded over magic...and debate.  Also there was this debate closet, which if you know anything about policy debate you know it's ALL about the research.  Tubs of the stuff and it's gotta go somewhere, hence the closet.  This is a place where tubs of research have been known to try and assassinate debaters.  See brilliant!  I wrote all over the place on this story crafting characters and places and no actual plot.  Plots are hard things for me, characters--check, awesome places--double check, plot--ehhh we're still looking for that.

But it was my first solo novel and I love those girls and that closet.

My first attempt taught me a lot.  Like most things you learn for some of your early failures and you go on to discover all new and amazing failures and strengths.  Don't ever forget you have strengths. 

It may take you a while to discover them, but they're there, trust me.

I'm not ashamed of my first novel.  Granted you're not getting much beyond this post, but still.  This was my first project the start of me becoming my own writer.  Letting go of DCD was hard, but I moved on quickly to bigger and better projects.  In this murky middle ground, I found myself investigating plot.  Looking for ways to circumvent traditional methods and revamp stories that I felt had been told one too many times.  It was a time for growth and to use an obscure over used phrase "find myself" as a writer. But I did, when I wrote DCD it was the first time I type a by-line with MY NAME not a penname from a fanfiction site.

So, I 'm not going to ask you to share your first novel experience (unless of course you want too!) but tell me the time you first considered yourself a "writer."


3 comments:

  1. :( Have faith! Foxtrot is very very good and I'm excited to see where you go with it!

    Hmm, first time I considered myself a writer? I'm not sure. It may have been my senior year of college, where some of my writing profs were very very supportive.

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  2. I don't think it ever crossed my mind one way or another. But I think you're a writer whether you sell or not.

    It's the act that defines a writer, not how much money you make.

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