Going in to the summer of 2012 I had lofty goals! Well actually going in to every summer I do. You see around this time of year, anything that can possibly be put off is added to the summer "to do" list. Well 2012 was no different and one of my goals was to work on the story. I had a shell but it needed so much more- including an ending. I still had no idea how this story was going to end.
Well I can fast forward to the fall of 2012 and tell you that nothing happened during the summer of 2012, I did not write at all- it was almost as if the story was put back into the recesses of my brain and became one of those things that I may or may not get back to. Also during August, I began another journey to get healthy (see my previous blog www.runin2it.blogspot.com). I was so focused on what I was doing that I now had another reason to casually forget about writing.
So the fall rolls around and I am back to my regular routine of teaching and raising my girls. And I missed my story, I missed Ava and Jack and I wanted to see where their lives were going to go. So about mid-September I started writing again. This was probably the hardest point for me because I was struggling with finding an ending and making it longer. I started to research lengths of books and how many Word document pages would there be in a printed book. I read a few blogs of other writers and a few blogs and articles about writing style. I learned a few tips and tricks and started revising some of what I had already written. While doing that, I was able to add a little bit more to the story and I was beginning to live in that world again.
I believe it was around October of 2012 that I decided, on a whim, to get a little feedback from a trusted friend. It wasn't something that I gave any thought to- I didn't look at my list of friends and go eenie meanie meini mo. I simply thought one day- I bet Shannon Smith would like to read it. Shannon and I had taught together and I knew she was an avid reader, particularly of this genre. Above all, I trusted her. So I sent her an email telling her I had written a book and asked if she would be interested in reading it. Before I knew what I was doing, the copy had been sent to her and I sat chewing my nails completely out of my comfort zone. I sent her over 150 pages typed and she read it in one night. Shannon then became one of my biggest cheerleaders. It was a very surreal experience to have some feedback about the story I had written and to be able, for the first time, to have a conversation about the characters. Then Shannon said, "you need to include 1117." WOW of course I had to include that, why hadn't I thought of that!
So with a renewed excitement I began to go back through the story and add in 1117. I wasn't sure exactly how it was going to fit into the story but I just added it in where I could and began to think on it. I can't thank Shannon enough for her enthusiasm and encouragement as I trudged head on back into the story.
By December (a year after I started) I was becoming a little more confident in the story and decided to share what I was doing with my family. We were going out to dinner again for my Dad's birthday, at the same restaurant where we went the first day I began writing. I was hoping all day that I would see the Hollins Market picture, I wanted to get a picture of it. Sure enough we sat at the same table and the picture was still there!
I had been thinking for awhile about telling my family and this was my perfect opportunity. To say I was nervous was a complete understatement. I had no idea how they were going to react, I didn't even know how I was going to tell them. I can't remember what I said, but I do remember shaking and blushing when I told them. It felt like I was sharing some deep dark secret.
So with my story a little more out there I knew there was no looking back. I often think that I waited to share the story with anyone until I knew that I would finish it in some way. I had about 170 pages, a sketchy ending and with some revising and editing I knew I could make it better. My family was extremely supportive but I don't think they had any idea what to expect. Since it was still in Word form I knew my mother wouldn't be able to read it on the computer. My sister, Amy, said that she could be my editor. I don't think she realized that I would accept that offer! :0
So now that the cat was out of the bag, I had the winter to get it finished. I was excited, and scared and completely immersed in the world of Rudyard Lake going into the Winter of 2013.
My next steps were to figure out how to revise and make it longer. Publishing it entered my mind a few times during the fall and winter, mainly because I was interested in knowing how many pages published it would be. I knew that the average novel had about 300-350 pages published. I found out that a 300 page published novel is about 75,000 words. I had somewhere around 40,000. I still had a lot of words to go and this is what propelled me forward!
Next post- The number 1117 is a big part of Ava's story and a big part of my life.
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