Monday, October 29, 2012

A Book and a Blog

I can still remember Mrs. McNeal, my high school english teacher, telling me I needed to drop all other life plans and pursue writing as a career. I thought she was crazy. College professors echoed her advice. "You really must," they said. I never could understand how they thought I was going to afford to eat by doing that. There are very few jobs that pay a person for creative writing and I sure as heck did not want to pursue technical writing -- I would rather eat worms.

They would argue with me, telling me I was wasting my talent. I would argue in return explaining that I really liked pizza and it was expensive. Besides, what would I write about? I was young, unexperienced and, frankly, quite stupid. I felt I needed to be inspired to write. I thought real writers already had all that inspiration inside of them, oozing out their pores. I did not understand that it was something you could work at -- develop over time. I guess I never considered that real writers did research, which in turn sparked the inspiration. I chose a different career.

Fast-forward a number of years, we won't say exactly how many, and here I am thinking maybe they knew what they were talking about. I attended a writer's conference yesterday. A historical fiction conference specifically. I walked out afterward thinking, "Sure, I can do that. No problem."

(insert sound of brakes screeching here)

Let me say that again, because I doubt you caught the significance. I walked out thinking, "Sure, I can do that. No problem." Note the confidence. I walked out thinking I could write a novel. A whole novel. Like as in, wa-ha-hay more words than blog post.  For me, that is huge. Just like most other writers, I have always lacked the confidence to feel I could actually do it. Until yesterday. For whatever reason something clicked. I felt totally in my element. I even knew what my story was.

I have assigned days on my calendar to write and do research. I am going to do this. It won't be done by the end of next month. Maybe not even next year. But I am going to do this. I have joined a writers workshop, a group of writers who share critiques and editing -- peer pressure is always a good motivator. I'm going to do this.

In the mean time, there is a new blog in town. It is called White River Farmhouse. You can find it if you click on my profile. It is empty right now and may stay that way for awhile. I make no promises. I intend to use it for tracking the details for the second novel. Yes, two. There will be no pictures of cute animals. No mention of what is going on in my world. Just fiction and research. The discarded scene that doesn't make it into the book might get rewritten for this blog. It probably won't be in chronological order and may or may not make any sense at all, but you are welcome to follow along and provide feedback if you so choose.

I am going to do this.


17 comments:

thecrazysheeplady said...

They were all right!!!

Karen Anne said...

Congrats!

If not with a conventional publisher, think kindle. Some self-published people do very well there, ex: Terri Reid who sold 60,000 ebooks her first year.

Tombstone Livestock said...

You go girl !!!! and have fun doing it. I loved all your animal pictures with captions, maybe those could go into a children's book. Good Luck.

Florida Farm Girl said...

GOOD FOR YOU!!! You go, girl, and I'll be checking in to see how things are coming along. And, of course you can do this.

Nancy said...

I look forward to saying, "I knew her when. . ."

Unknown said...

Go for it!

One of the pastors at our church has published several books, I mentioned to Jack yesterday that I wanted to invite him and his wife over for supper sometime, then I said, "I don't know why, but when I see him I think of Christine.....they're both writers, Christine just hasn't realized it yet!"

Like I said, Go For It!





I need orange said...

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of my favorite creative quotes is from hockey legend Wayne Gretzky: "I miss 100% of the shots I don't take."

Good for you for stepping up to whack that puck!

Theresa said...

You go girl! Hope there are Shetlands and spinning and lots of farmy stuff in it!

Angela said...

I want my copy autographed please!

jan said...

Wonderful, your creative animals stories were always a treat, yes you can write. You go girl!!!

Anonymous said...

Good for you! Follow your passion...

Elaine said...

Congratulations!1 Pursue that dream.

Dianne@sheepdreams said...

Go for it! I'm betting you've got a best-seller just waiting for you to bring it to life.

Glenda in Florida said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you. I love reading everything here on the blog, and I'll be stalking the new blog as well.

Silvia said...

I always comment on what a good writer you are. I enjoy your posts and know you can write this novel, and the next. Congratulations on realizing your gift and pursuing it.

casacaudill said...

Congrats!

samboni said...

You can do it, Chris!!! Good for you! I'm excited for you!