Sometimes it’s good to look back at where you came from.
For me, I was a small girl in Dallas. I tried writing a novel about puppies with super powers in a Captain Jack Sparrow journal. I handwrote many chapters that took up about half the journal before I stopped. I had a colored in map with many coupons and items to use in the world I created. I don’t remember where the story came from, but it lasted for years.
I later tried writing other novels, but I realized I was in a time of change. I didn’t know what type of writer I was going to be. I wrote everything I thought and never finished half of it. I didn’t try to finish a novel anymore. I wrote what I thought.
After I got into high school, I had a decent stronghold of who I was. I completed a few novels for once. I knew they had gotten better, but never close to a masterpiece. I kept editing my first novel, Memories Forgotten, over and over. I researched publishing on nights I couldn’t sleep.
I’ve come far from those Captain Jack Sparrow journal days. It’s a good refresher to see how far I’ve traveled. It lets me see how I have improved.
Day by day, it seems as if not much happens since the writing world is slow. It takes forever to write a novel; it takes a lifetime to edit one. Publishing a book is a bit longer than a lifetime. It can seem as if we’re dragging our feet through the mud.
But looking back puts us into perspective more. Or at least it does for me. Perhaps it’ll work for you too.
Robin LeeAnn 