I’ve always loved writing. I remember going on long car rides and bringing a notebook and pen and writing small segments of stories throughout the journey. Even in school, creative writing assignments were my favourite.
It wasn’t until around 2018 that I finally decided that I wanted to write a novel. I’d wanted to for a while, being a big fan of series such as Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, but I’d never seriously considered it before.
2018
When I finally decided to write a novel, I already had an idea for a series that I’d been slowly piecing together over the years. So, on October 9, 2018, I sat down and wrote the very first words of my first draft of my first novel.
I worked on this novel for over a year. But I kept getting stuck. I found that the plot was going in circles or that the characters were too boring. Honestly, the near-constant writer’s block and self-doubt almost made me want to give up. I mean sure, I had all these ideas that I was excited about, but what good were these ideas if I couldn’t put them down on a page?
2018-2019
Still, I found that I couldn’t abandon writing entirely. At the end of 2019, a few things happened.
The first was that I decided to start my Take Ten to Write challenge. I’d been writing short excerpts of stories for a while already, always inspired by a piece of music or something that happened during my day, and I found that it was fun and freeing to just write whatever was on my mind. Because I was guided by prompts, I was able to explore different scenarios and personalities and environments; in other words, it was a pretty great writing exercise. At the beginning of 2020, I launched my website and began posting my Take Ten to Write stories.
The other big thing that happened at the end of 2019 was that I decided to write another novel. My idea was that it would just be for practice, so that I could improve my writing craft in preparation to re-tackle my first novel. I never actually intended to get so attached to what eventually became The Dimensioners. I’ll probably write another post later about how The Dimensioners came to be, since this one is already getting quite long, but basically, what’s important to know is that The Dimensioners was born on December 24, 2019, and I’ve been working on it ever since.
2024
Which brings us to present day. Yes, I’m still working on The Dimensioners. Yes, I’m struggling with editing and have been majorly procrastinating. But, I’ve made myself a goal this year. I’m really, really hoping to be able to achieve this goal and have* The Dimensioners* published by the end of 2024.
I’ve also brought back my Take Ten to Write stories. Again, there’s probably going to be another post later about what happened with Take Ten to Write between 2019 to now, but all I’ll say for now is that Take Ten to Write is back and hopefully here to stay (at least for this year).
And finally, as I mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve got way too many plans for future novels. I’ve also revisited my very first novel and it’s getting a major makeover.
All in all, I’m very excited for what the future holds in terms of my writing journey!
P.S. If you haven’t read today’s Take Ten to Write story yet, check it out here!
