Journey Through the Journals...my Progress

Hey, writers-

(Journey through the Journals)

In case you were not aware of this, I'm writing a book.

*Oh!*

Haha, yeah, I'm pretty slow when I write. I started it...I don't know, a while back? LOL, I'd say I've been writing it for about six months now. It was developed from a dream (and changed and altered a bunch, but its still cool) and when I explained it to certain people, I got so many comments like, "Wow, that's so original." "YOU COULD BE FAMOUS. Lots of popular books came from dreams!!" (this coming from my best friend) ;) (love ya!) and "It seems like it'd make a good Saturday evening movie."

Something about these comments convinced me to write a book about it. (don't ask me why)

I've been writing and coming up with stories since I was old enough to, and stapling my own books together and also illustrating them myself when I was about four. At eight I started coming up with longer stories and writing them down on notebook paper. I was good at short stories, but I could never quite finish them. My head flooded with an excessive amount of ideas and stories, and I might have been able to finish the first (very short) chapter, but never more. I think part of it was because it was physically on paper and my hand cramped easily. But also because I got writer's block.

Bad.

This made me frustrated.

And unfortunately, I gave up on writing. As sad as that sounds. It had been a huge part of my life. Every single month at some point or another, it'd be my duty to say, "I came up with a new story idea!" and explain it all out to my parents or friends. Every single time my friend(s) would say, "Uh, huh. Are you sure you're going to finish this one?" and my parents, "Well, you need to finish your other books before you start a new one,".

But-but-but-! This idea is awesome! What if I forget it?

But earlier this year, some time in March or so, I believe, a single one-day writer's class was going to be taught by a local author. I thought, "Hmm, its worth a shot,". Plus, I wanted to meet the author and see what books she writes.

She shared some very good tips. She was very friendly and writes writes fantasy, and I also found out that she owns a publishing house.

Wait, what?

Shortly after, I had that dream. I did start writing that one (on my tiny tablet, though), but it was hard to stay at it.

I attended another series of classes taught by that author at our local library. After the second class, I stopped to talk to her. I asked her about her publishing house, and the deals impressed me. Then I asked if she had any tips on writer's block.

She gave me something that basically changed my life.

She said her "little secret" was writing future scenes ahead of time. You can be working on chapter two and have, say, chapter 12 playing in your head. Go ahead and write it. You can have as many as twenty scenes being written all at once! Just connect in the points and pieces when you're done.

This hint was oh, so helpful.

I couldn't have written my book without it. It also evens out your book. You know what to write about that's going to happen later and it all fits in smoothly. That's a great way to write a mystery book.

I should note here, though, if you plan on publishing your book, you should always start with an Ebook. I didn't like this idea, hence all the friends and family waiting anxiously to read my book, and because I was invited to a book signing at our library, I wanted to have some spare copies to hand out. But unless you're already wealthy, you won't be able to pay for the printing and shipping. 

And most Ebooks to publish are free. One is Smashwords. It is free to publish, but you can price it for as much as you want, although nobody is going to want to buy it for much more than $6. The whole reason why Ebooks are cheaper is because the author doesn't have to worry about paying for printing.

Hope this was helpful to any writers out there. :)

But anyways, I would tell you about my book, but I hate the idea of piracy. XP People can steal your book idea anyday and pretty much rob the money you should be earning.

Its called "Journey through the Journals", and I only have about two more chapters to write. Its over 40 thousand words as of right now, (an average is 50 to 60 for young adults) so it will be considered a novella. I'm trying to make it as long as I can stand writing it, since it seems like such a story, the kind you don't want to end.

I CANNOT wait until its done.

I will share it once I've completed it. ;)

XOXO,

Bree