New Writer

I guess I should explain how new I am to the writing world. Did not go to school for it or even worked in the industry. My background is Law, paralegal/legal assistant. When I started writing about 3 years ago it was all new to me. It started w/ a dream. One of the few times I've had a vivid dream & actually remembered it. I remember waking up & still feeling what the girl felt in my dream. The thing is I don't often remember a lot of my dreams but this one stuck w/ me. Later that day I spoke to my sister to tell her about it & she said I should write it down. So I did & that was the beginning of a journey that has transformed my life. I knew I liked to journal & keep a diary but I didn't realize I had a passion for writing. The story was pouring out of me effortlessly.  I wrote every moment of every day, staying up all hours of the night driving my family crazy of course. But I didn't stop, I wrote & wrote. Sometimes I'd stop & think I can't believe this is all coming out of my head. And then when my characters started developing personalities I was shocked. It amazes me that they have distinctive personalities, as I write I know Catalina would do this not this & Nick would react like this.  Then about 2 years later I thought hmmm if I want others to read this & maybe publish it, I need to learn about that world. And so began a new phase in my life of learning about authors & publishers. I joined a wonderful writers group (LSFW), best move I ever made because they've really shed light into this world.  I'm learning so much & yes I get (very) confused. Writers/authors have their own lingo. If you're a vet writer reading this maybe you don't see it but for us newbies I tell ya you do. I find myself writing down everything & anything. Then I google it(gracias google) 

All that brings us to now. I'm still writing and it's still the same book. I didn't start out with the intention of making it more than one book. I just wrote what I saw in my head. Then when I learned that there was something called a word count I was like, a what?  Turns out publishers have guidelines & one of them is how long a book should be (if you're interested in submitting to them). Yes I was shocked because once I learned to use my word count button I had about 5 books. All this new information I've learned has interrupted my writing because I worry now about my writing style, word count, social media, and so on.  I'm glad I waited 2 years before learning all this new information because I got the heart of the story out without outside worries.  Too much information sometimes can hamper you, I know it does me. But I'm loving it all, yes I'm scared & worried that people are going to hate the book but it's the risk I'm willing to take if I want others to fall in love w/ my story.


And so that's my post for today. If anyone's reading this leave me a comment or just keep coming back. 


Gigi ∞