Project 365 for 2011 - A Novel, Why Not?

Last year I took on Project 365 for Photography.  The idea is that, if you do something each and every day for an entire year, you will get better at it.  If you work really hard, you will get much, much better.

I never fancied myself a writer.  When my first baby was born, I started a blog with his photos and updates on him to keep my family members posted.  After awhile, photos and descriptions like "Look at baby petting the goat!  He loves to feed them goat food."  began to feel pretty inane to me.  They didn't capture the sound of my boy's laugh, or the twinkle in his eye when the goat's lips touched his finger.  So I started to write more descriptively, more elegantly, and people started telling me I was a good writer.

It turns out that the writing I do on my family blog is very, very, VERY purple, but that's the way I like it and I'm not trying to sell it to anyone.  So it will stay, for the sake of my sentimental mother's heart.

I've always loved reading.  Unlike most adults, who left behind young adult fiction like an old  immature boyfriend when they left junior high, I kept reading.  Harry Potter, Twilight, Graceling, The Hunger Games - these books speak to the part of myself that believes in magic.  I disappear into their worlds and I feel enchanted, comforted, and at home.  It's been a struggle for to find more books like that, that grab onto me and don't let me go.  I always thought that maybe I should try my hand at writing my own, but I didn't have a story in my head.  I thought it best not to force it.

A couple months ago, I dreamed up a story.  And I love it.  And I'm in love with the characters.  So I started to write it down, a little bit each day, during naptime when my 3 crazy kids didn't need me that much.  I downloaded Scrivener, moved the bits and pieces of plot and character I had into there, and started to move them around, shape them into sections and chapters.  When I look at the bottom of the screen, I see that I have just over 20,000 words, which makes me think maybe I could do it.  Maybe I could write a novel.  And maybe it would be good.


I've declared writing my Project 365 for 2011.  If I keep up an average of 500 words a day, I should have something I can start revising in May.  Maybe it will be ready to query, or self-publish, by the end of the year.

This is my quiet little corner of cyberspace to keep track of everything - how many words I've written each day and anything else I want you to know. Thanks for visiting.

Words written today: 1376

Total words as of today: 20,411

Word that I'm proud I used today: "Diffidence"

Listening to: "Till Kingdom Come" by Coldplay

Obsessed with: Arabian Nights Candy Mix