I'm Just a Baby

OK, I know what you're thinking.  You've seen my picture and you'd like to beg to differ.  But that's just in people years, not in writer years.

I remember the day that I decided to become a "real" writer.  I've always loved writing, and I thought it would be fun to write a novel some day.  However, I was just a mom, just a housewife, and I was so boringly happy!  I didn't think I could find a story anyone would want to read.

Then my husband and I went to San Diego for our 20th anniversary, December 2008.  We were eating at an outdoor cafe (you can do that in San Diego in December), and I was enjoying watching the variety of people walk by.  It got me thinking about them and wondering what it would be like to actually "be" the 20-something girl in hip clothes laughing with her friends or the harried business man pushing through the crowds.  I wanted to get inside their heads, feel what it was like to live in their skins for a day.

And that spawned my Big Idea.  Finally, I had an idea worthy of a novel!  Something that people would be interested in reading.  In that moment, I became an author.  Eons away from becoming a published author, but in my heart, I was an author.

I quickly learned I had a lot to learn about writing a novel.  I decided to write a "practice" novel before tackling my big idea.  And I did... kind of.  I finished the first draft of "A Novel Idea."  It took me a year to do it, and it's only 36,000 words in length.  Still, I'm thrilled that I did it, and I learned so much along the way.  I fell in love with my practice novel, and I hope to revise it and see it published some day.

I'm still not ready for my Big Idea.  I need to work on my prose, learn how to write in first person point of view, do a lot of research, and learn how to edit.  I'm just a baby.  I've got time to learn and grow up.