and I'm writing a book. At twelve years old, I dreamed of two best friends who discover a new world behind a painting. I wrote their story in bedazzled notebooks, in random Word docs, on sticky notes, in notes apps, and more. Telling these two characters' stories became a life mission. The thing is...I've been on this mission for the last fifteen years. (Queue exasperated sighs from my mother and sister).
For all those years, I wrote, but I never really wrote. I jotted scenes down and wrote out conversations, but I never really progressed. I never told the story - this beautiful, fun, thrilling story that I've played in my head all these years. On December 3, 2018, after having stepped away from my story for a long time, I wrote a two-page scene on the hour-long train ride to my first big-girl job. The next day, I wrote some more. The day after that, I wrote again. And then those three days became a year of writing every single day. I wrote on sticky notes and stuck those notes in notebooks and transferred those notes to notes apps and eventually added all that to a single document. For the first time, the story was starting to take shape. I ended that year with an 800-page first draft - the first real step for any book. After that, I went into outlining mode, preparing an outline for the 5-book series this story will eventually be.
Now, in 2021, I've challenged myself to have Book 1 of THE SERIES written and published by 2023, the year of my 30th birthday. These are my notes to you, the readers and writers who may be interested in the process or going through their own journeys. Most importantly, these are my notes to me - a record of the hard parts and the best parts of writing. A reminder that when I do this all over again for Book 2 that I have been here before. But also, to keep me honest.
Love,
Q.
