I greatly appreciate Authors Lounge for allowing me to share my story with you. It is an open question whether it will benefit those who read this, but if it does, all the better. We all need a boost here and there.
I started writing the rough manuscript for my first novel in about 2004. It took me about a month and a half or so at the prodding of a client who wanted more chapters to read. I owe her a debt of gratitude for that. When the manuscript was finished, I put it in a box to await editing. Six years later, I left for Peru. Manuscript with me, in the box. Another six years later, I returned to Canada, the manuscript with me and still in the box. Finally, five years later, I started editing and then published it. I also have Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and German versions. The sequel to the novel is in process, sixteen chapters are ready, and another 9 or 10 to go. The best advice I can give anyone; is don’t wait seventeen years to finish editing. 🙂
As for factors that led me to this path? I did not have a great childhood. Quite the opposite. I occasionally hid my pain or disappointment by reading comic books and sometimes writing stories that were happier than my actual life. We all need ways to ease our pain. The most significant damage my childhood caused was burying whatever self-confidence I had in those days. Eventually, it began to return. I excelled in public speaking in high school. I won district and State public speaking championships with the Jaycees. I ended up teaching an adult night course in Effective Public Speaking at a college in Ontario for four years. I did radio and tv commercials for dealerships that I worked for. Every commercial was a one-take adlib and done.
As for writing, the earliest I remember doing any significant writing was in middle school, Junior High. I had a crush on a girl, and almost every day, I wrote her a poem and handed it to her in the hall. I never asked her out, held her hand, or walked her home. I was too shy for that. I ran into her in a department store about 10 years later. The first words she said were, “I still have every poem you ever wrote for me. I keep them in a shoebox under my bed and often take them out to read again”. I was surprised, to say the least. I was suddenly also aware that I might consider writing more often.
Over the years, I would write when the idea struck. That’s the key for me. When the idea hits, get writing. I could never sit down and write anything without that one thought that triggered the process. That singular motivation. Once started, it just flowed. Stream of thought writing. There was nothing in the way, certainly not Scrivener with all that complicated voodoo I had no patience for. I know that works for many people, but not for me. Don’t interfere with my thought process, if you please.
There were poems, song lyrics, and short stories. Every one of them was written free-flow. Ultimately, I started writing The Second Coming of Angela in about 2005. I had written three chapters, and one day, a client asked if she could read what I had. I sent it home with her, and the next day, she returned those chapters and asked for more.
She would return for another two or three chapters every two or three days. I finished the novel, at work, in less than a month and a half. Free-flow writing. Then I put the manuscript in a box to edit later. Things got in the way, including a six-year stint in Peru, and it took sixteen years before the editing began and 17 years before it was finally edited and published. It has also been translated into Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and German and is now published. The novel’s sequel is currently about two-thirds finished and edited. For fun, I also published a very short eBook of short stories. Three Odd Tales. The sequel to the novel, The Resurrection of Carlo, is nearing completion.
Hopefully, if there is anything to be learned from me, you might have to have your process..whatever it is. It could be the Scrivener route or loads of sticky notes everywhere. Whatever works for you, give it your best. The important thing is to have a process that fits you and allows your mind to speak for you. Many people will tell you what writing process you should use because it works for them. But you are not them. You need to find what works for you. Whatever approach you choose, you will have a lot of work to do and redo. A lot of writing, editing and rewriting. In the end, you will have something worthwhile.
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