Writing My Novel: Experiences

            Hello! Welcome to a new series here on Lit&Leta called Writing My Novel. In this series, I’m going to be talking about what has inspired me to write, how I keep motivated (and how I don’t), and more!

            In this post, Experiences, I’ll be going through the events in my life that have led me towards writing and continuing to write. Hopefully, by the end, I’ll be able to answer the question: why do I write?

            The first time I truly remember writing, I was about six years old. I remember writing a lot in notebooks before deciding at around age seven to write a book. I turned myself and my three best friends into my four main characters and began building a loose fairy-like world around them. My teachers were mad at me for writing during class time, but I felt the urge to write even at that age.

            Growing up, my dad wrote his novel most days. He talked a lot about the method of writing, and when I was old enough, I read the first part of his book. It was inspiring just to know that I wasn’t the only writer in my family. He never published his book, but it was an amazing world and concept.

            NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is something I’ve tried more than once. I tried around 4 or 5 years in a row to get 50,000 words onto the page, but I couldn’t even get past 18,000 words. Eventually, I took writing classes in university that helped me to gain confidence in my writing skills. It’s hard to stay motivated to write when you haven’t ever gotten feedback or the chance for structured movement forward. The year after I got out of university I didn’t have any assignments or readings during the month of November 2020, so I went full-tilt into NaNoWriMo. It was hard, and I had to force myself to do it, but seeing my final word count of over 48,000 helped me so much in gaining confidence as a writer.

            So that was a summary of all the experiences that shaped me as a writer. Have I answered the question: why do I write?

            I write because I need to. The drive to put words to the page is so strong that I’ve started this blog to have a commitment to writing without the enormity that comes with that novel. The other series of posts I have on my blog here, Creative Write with Me, is going to morph into a series of stories that I write here for all of you. Practise is the best way to improve, so I’m excited to share my writing and keep my brain and fingers warmed up for the inevitable return to my novel.

            Thank you so much for reading. Watch out for the next installment of this series soon!