Remember the blog project I did in 2010 with three other women? Well, Froggie decided to resurrect it with me and we each got to invite another friend to join us. She invited a mutual friend (someone I met through her) and I invited a friend whose blog I really enjoy reading. So now it's Froggie, Mom of Many, Moma Rock and Merrylandgirl. Hope you enjoy the topics that we'll be exploring!
This week, Froggie picked the topic: Pursuing your passion.
Before reading ahead, first see what everyone else had to say on this topic:
Froggie
Mom of Many
Moma Rock
I’m sure everyone and their mother knows by know how reading is my passion and I’ve pursued it with my book blog. I am thrilled with how far it has come in two short years and had a whirlwind summer of meeting various authors. I even made a new friend in my community as a result!
Now that I’ve created a blog and been able to feature some amazing authors and get all the books I’ve wanted at no cost….what’s next? Aside from the typical response—going to Disney World (which is in the works)—I want to write a novel.
Reading and meeting authors and seeing how many great books there are out there just makes me want to toss my hat into the pile. I’ve been given positive feedback about my writing, even though I’m just sharing my thoughts in a blog format or writing introductions to authors. I think the best feedback was just recent and it came from an author I really admire, Jane Porter. She told me she liked my writing as much as she liked the answers from authors in our interviews. Coming from her, that was a HUGE compliment and it makes me wonder what I could really do, if given the chance to write a novel. I’ve had ideas in my head and just don’t know how to get them on paper (or screen, in this case). I’m sure I could if I really was motivated and applied myself. I’m just scared of what I would see or that I would balk at the first sign of negative feedback. I took a writing workshop class 10 years ago and wrote a short story that I was proud of and made my mom cry. It was about a college-aged girl spending Passover with her family and all the craziness that happened in the span of one night. It ended with her meeting her besherte. However, the class received it differently and I felt so stifled afterward.
In 2010, an idea popped into my head for a story. Two years later, it is still in my head, which means maybe it should be told. Some of the circumstances in the story have changed, but it still carries the main idea and most of what I had in mind when it first came about. I also got another idea recently that I really like, and I see many possibilities for where it could go. I already have lead characters for both of these stories too. However, they are stuck in my mind, as I have yet to write them out in any type of format. For a while, in 2010, I participated in a blog exercise called Fiction Friday. I received positive feedback on my work, but after my daughter was born, I didn't have time to participate, let alone any creative thoughts. You can find some of my Fiction Friday posts here.
After hearing how brutal the publishing world can be and how many hoops a writer has to jump through, I don’t know if I’d even want to be an author. However, there’s also the glory of becoming a bestselling novelist. Seeing my favorite authors this summer has shown me that much. They have a great fan turnout and are gracious to everyone who shows up to get their books signed. (At least they were to me!) I love learning new things about authors through my interviews and realizing that I usually have something in common with each of them. I’ve connected a lot with an author featured on my blog earlier this summer. We have so much in common and I hope to meet her in person one of these days. I could see her being incredibly supportive if I did go the route of writing a novel. Would I want someone like me reviewing it though? Now that's another story...
I guess only time will tell with such an aspiration. All I know is that I love to write, I’ve been told I’m good at it, and I’ve seen so many wonderful and well-deserving authors make it big in the industry. That should be enough encouragement, write…I mean, right?!? Until then, I always have my blog and my current goal is to meet Marian Keyes, even just via e-mail. I’d be thrilled to pieces if she did an interview with my blog. Wishful thinking, right?!?
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4 comments:
Like you, I would love to write a novel; I can totally identify with the fears of rejection and taking that first crucial step. But from what I've seen with your blog posts, you are a phenomenal writer. Maybe it's time to take that step? :)
Just start writing and see where it takes you! I hope you follow your dream!
I hope you do get to write a book. What you've written and I have read has been really good.
Melissa. Just let me say that I always wanted to write and just didn't for one reason or another. I still do, but (here comes the excuse) I fear I don't have the time left to do it. So, what I am trying to say to you is DO IT NOW. Someone once told me I could find an hour a day somehow, and they were right. I could have and should have. My point being....if you want to do it and you are passionate about it, don't wait. Do it. And for that matter, do all the things, all the time, whenever possible.
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