I haven’t been this enthusiastic about a writing project for a long
time.
I’m writing a novel, a mystery novel.
***
I’ve been writing for most of my life. I wrote stories when I was a
child and continued to write fiction in college and graduate school.
I took a creative writing class while in graduate school, and I kept
turning in short stories. The instructor kept telling me that she couldn’t hear
my voice in the writing.
At the time, I didn’t know what she was talking about. I just gave up. I
wrote some poems and turned those in. My instructor said, “I’m finally hearing
your voice.”
So I just kept on writing poetry. I never tried writing fiction again.
***
Through the years, I developed a love for writing nonfiction: essays,
opinion pieces, biography and memoir.
Sometimes I thought about writing fiction, but I didn’t read a lot of
fiction. And I believe that we should write what we enjoy reading. The only
fiction I enjoyed was the mystery/thriller.
I thought I couldn’t write one of those. It would be too hard. I would
have to do too much research. I didn’t have a voice. No, I couldn’t write one
of those.
Sometimes I played around with some ideas in my head—I never wrote any
of it down. And I quickly pushed the thoughts aside.
No, I couldn’t write a mystery/thriller.
***
The thing is, I haven’t written steadily for a long time. I’ve worked on
blog posts, of course, and for the newspaper. But I haven’t touched my memoir
in a while. I felt stuck. I wanted to write more, but nothing appealed to me.
I told myself I needed to develop more discipline. I needed to push
myself and eventually I’d like what I was doing.
***
Look at those last words I wrote, about developing discipline and
pushing myself. Do they depress anyone else? They sure depress me.
I let the joy of writing get away
from me.
***
Recently, I was lying in bed, unable to sleep. I started thinking about
a character who wanted to solve a mystery. I started adding details. I started
writing in my head.
I got excited. I wanted to write.
And I did. And I had a ball.
***
I don’t know what I’m doing. I have a lot to learn about putting
together a mystery novel. I have a lot of research to do. But the learning and
the research are not going to get in the way of the writing. I’ll be writing
away amid the learning.
***
My word for this year is adventure. I started an editing business in January. My latest adventure is starting a
novel. And I’m having so much fun!
 |
| Chase Bird said if I write a novel, the main character has to have a cat. Preferably a gray Tabby. |
P.S. When I told Larry I was writing a novel, he said, “I’ve been telling
you for 15 years that you needed to write one.”
If you decided to write a book, what kind of book would it be? Or if
you’re already writing one, what kind is it?
