Wow! It’s cold outside right now, and apparently it is about to get colder. With temps dropping and snow inbound here in the Northwest, with many of us holed up in our homes, either binge watching our favorite shows, stressing about not getting work done… or both!

Fortunately, I’m blessed with having all my work flowing back and forth, somewhere between my head and my fingers, most of the time. Lately, I have been keeping myself busy with my novel, discovering that it is not nearly as easy as they make it look on Google! 

First of all, I learned how to turn Google off! If I am to fully engage in the telling of this story, I cannot be distracted by rules, instructions and everyone else’s opinion of how I should write this book! If I don’t have a book written, searching around on the internet for help in how to sell said book, is pretty much mute! Too much help has actually been interfering with the telling of the Tale… and that just won’t work for this girl!

The second discovery I’ve made? Writing takes a lot of work… more so than I ever realized! You know that old adage, Rome was not built in a day? If I’d not understood the depth of that phrase’s meaning before, I’ve surely begun to feel the weight of its truth now! In my naivety, I had developed some very unrealistic ideas of how books were written. For some reason, I had it in my head that real writers could just sit down in some fugue state of enlightenment, that then gave way to the spewing out of an entire story… in only a brief amount of time. Maybe some can truly write that way… just not me! 

Not only did I discover that I write differently than other writers, which is as it should be, but I learned that I like to build my own literary road blocks, or excuses, so I don’t have to push myself into writing freely. Leaving this way of thinking, is the best way to grow as a writer, in my opinion. That should explain why you’ve all seen my posts about writing more off the cuff, as they say. I’ve changed up my entire daily schedule, in order to structure a more realistic writing environment for myself… earlier rising… quiet time first…daily writings and correspondence here on WordPress… and then I work on my dream! 

I am a tortoise, remember, and not the hare when it comes to walking forward in this pursuit. If I rush forward in what I try to get down on the page, it fills me with the worst pressure within my spirit. Therefore, I must pull each thread out of my dreams, very methodically and then carefully sew it into the literary fabric of its creation. I’ve no desire or intention of running over my own typing fingers with the needle of my Brain Machine! While I may end up being the worlds slowest Story Seamstress, Story Seamstress I shall be, none the less!

Every day I challenge myself to pull my chair up to this literary sewing table, whether it be to cut in story patterns, pin sections to one another, or cut away loose threads. 

Regardless of what I do at this table, the project goes forward… and yes, ladies and gentlemen, it is coming closer to being complete. I’m going to take my time, learning the process and improving my skill with writing. Timing is everything, as I’ve learned over and over through the years… and I fully agree with whomever first said it. In fact, I believe so strongly in that phrase that I’m willing to take it to the bank… you know… That bank… Eternal Investments and Loans. If you’re looking for a better banking establishment, BTW, this bank only came with one question on the application and they apparently already had access to my background report… and I got an account anyways… crazy right?!

At the end of the day, or at least the end of this article, I still have no idea what I’m doing, nor can I see into the future to where I’ll end up… but I can say that I see growth, I feel peace, and I am finding so much Joy in this journey. If I can say this while living the way I do, through all the waiting, all the hardship of both grief and sorrow, with no clear answer for the end… my prayer and belief is that you can too, in whatever place of your journey that you are on. There is Joy to be found if we push on… whether we need to take baby steps, or at times even crawl!