Which, really doesn't matter to y'all. Except that on my second anniversary, I started writing after a two year hiatus. And so I'm looking back on the past five years and how I've grown and changed as a writer since then.
When I first started writing again, I had no idea what I was doing--I struggled to find my voice, and a style. But I did have a story, and in a very lame (not to be read) way, I told it.
And the next project was similar--more of my voice and style were defined, but it was still floundering. That went on for another two books while I wrote short stories and learned the market and what I liked and what I didn't and what worked for me. I figured out how to write in MY style and voice, how much planning was best for my process and how much was too much. I learned how I like to edit--and how much time I need to devote to querying/agent research.
By the time my anniversary arrives, I will have written six books in five years. And my process now is completely different than it was five years ago when I started working. The evolution in my writing--both my process and my writing itself--has amazed me. Every time I do a rough outline or half a synopsis in preparation for writing, or when I read over a passage and thing OMG, I can't wait til I start revisions! I have to laugh a little, because of how far I've come in five years.
And I can't help but wonder how far I'll go in another five years.
Q4U: Looking back over your own journey, how have you grown and changed?
In the beginning, I would just start writing, sometimes even before I knew what I was writing about. Now, I let the ideas form into coherent thoughts before committing anything to paper, whether it be character sketches or full blown paragraphs. I also struggled to find my voice, sometimes I think I'm still working on it. But the stories have definitely progressed since I started 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteYeah, voice and style are tough ones. I don't know that I can claim to have "figured it out yet" because my process seems to change with every book, well, except for one thing. I can't do revisions on a book until I've set it aside and written another book. Then revising is easy. I know it's strange, but there it is. I need a whole other story before I can work on the first story. But I also need time to recharge.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying that this time around! I know I need a break from my WIP before I edit it, so I'm gonna start a new book. I draft fairly fast (well, aside from this WIP) so by the time my first draft is done, I should be ready to edit. :)
Delete