Three years ago, I rang in the New Year on an airplane high above the Atlantic Ocean. We flew over Scotland when the clock struck midnight in the United States (eastern time). I was on my way to Israel for a ten-day trip of a lifetime.
While this year’s celebration didn’t involve world travel, the last day of 2015 was significant in its own right. With less than six hours to spare in 2015, I finally finished the first draft of the novel I’ve been working on for the last three years.
WHERE THE PROCESS BEGAN
After that trip to Israel, I began working on the manuscript sporadically. I wrote a few chapters when I was in the mood the write, and then set the work aside for months. Like many people with creative aspirations, I got stuck in the monotony of day-to-day life. I also developed some medical issues that landed me in the hospital several times. Writing got pushed to the back burner.
Then six months ago something happened that changed my perspective. A co-worker asked me to help her with a papeshwrote for a college class. As I went through the paper and helped her revise it, I realized how much I missed the act of writing. It wasn’t so much the idea of being published (which every writer ultimately wants), but it was simply the act of transferring ideas to written form. From that point on, I became more intentional about writing.
I started working on my novel again. I started working on other writing projects. I started participating in online writing courses. I started scheduling regular writing time around my bill-paying job. Most importantly, I started thinking of myself a full-fledged writer rather than an aspiring writer.
IT’S THE PROCESS, NOT THE RESULT
When I typed the last sentence of the last chapter in my manuscript, I was struck with a strange feeling. There was certainly a sense of accomplishment in the fact that I had met my goal of completing the first draft. But it was more than that. I was more proud of the process I’d been through to get to the final result. It had been a long three years of writing, not writing, health issues, frustration with my job, and dealing with a critic before I’d even put any of my work out publically.
Finishing this manuscript wasn’t so much about the end result as it was about what I’ve learned about myself along the way. It would have been easier to settle into the 40-hours-a-week job routine and the occasional night out with friends. But the creative voices in my head would never let me settle. Even if I never make a dime from writing, I am a writer. And thinking of myself that way has made all the difference in how I view my bill-paying job and my life in general.
I still have a long way to go before my novel will be ready to send to beta readers, but now that I have a clearer vision of what I want to do, I’m ready to tackle the multiple rounds of revisions needed to get my novel ready, but I know the process will be another great learning experience.
- What are you biggest obstacles to finishing your writing projects?
- Do you think of yourself as a writer?
- If not, what’s holding you back from allowing yourself to think of yourself as a writer?
Reignite your creativity!
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I would like to think of myself as a writer. I think what holds me back from thinking that way, and from writing more, is self-doubt. I worry too much about if anyone would be interested in what I write. Not even about criticism specifically, because there will always be critics, but just doubtful that there would even be interest.
I totally understand that. Gets me sometimes too. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned from the last few months it’s that you won’t know what people like unless you put something out for them to see first. One of the leaders for a writing class I took often says that what may seem common to you is special to someone else. Your experience s are unique and someone will want to hear about 🙂