What? Write? Why?

Not hearing from an agent ready to represent the manuscript for my first novel in adult fiction has been hard.

It has put a damper on my creative spirit, and I’ve struggled with working on the second book without deleting everything I have written.

The outline for the book has been done.

But, the scenes still need to be written.

The problem was getting through the first scene.

I’d write, then delete. Write some more and then delete some more. Not very helpful or productive.

***

Toward the beginning of last month, I signed up to take part in an Advanced/Advanced Writer’s workshop. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because I hadn’t prepared as well as I had wanted.

I arrived exhausted and spent, which wasn’t so bad, because we didn’t do any writing-related stuff. The first day lasted only a few hours, and it was pretty low-key. We registered and mixed and mingled. I could handle that.

From there, things went well. Better than I had anticipated, actually.

The speakers challenged, encouraged, and motivated.

The writing exercises given to me didn’t just pinpoint specifics in my writing, they gave me just enough for me to work on without feeling overwhelming or looking too far ahead. I have the habit of trying to accomplish too much at once. And, constructive criticism didn’t stick only with pointing out what didn’t work in the writing. Also included were  possibilities that were faithful to the spirit of my writing and fun to brainstorm as a team.

To add to all that, I enjoyed chatting up the participants and the speakers and building relationships.

Much to my surprise, I was able to not only start the scene I had been trying to get going but I finished writing it.

On the evening of the first full day of the workshop, I saw a full rainbow on my hour and a half commute home. That felt like a magical confirmation of the writing that had gotten done and all the goodness that had happened there.

The rest of the time there, at the workshop, was equally amazing. I walked away with my passion for writing reignited and energized.

***

This past week, I had some productive writing days. Even with the kiddos home and loads of things to do where they’re concerned, I’ve had some surprises. Thursday, for instance, I got breakfast and lunch served, cleared the table, and some other mom activities. Still, I wrote 1,700 words, and not just an SFD, written within several short hours. I was pretty pleased. And, there was even a rainbow to greet me at the end of that afternoon.

So, I’m powering forward and aiming to complete this draft of book two by November, because I’m a writer, I love to write, and I’m passionate about what I’m sharing.