It’s no secret that I love to write. I’ve been writing stories since I was a little kid. In first grade I made a book complete with illustrations, which my teacher published at school. It was called “The Rainbow Family.” I remember holding that book in my hands and being so proud that I had made my own book, just like the books that sat on my shelf at home. I wanted to make more books.
I never stopped writing, though my stories stayed private and were only shared with friends and the occasional trusted teacher. I was told I was a good writer, something I didn’t really believe since I don’t have much self esteem and I doubt myself a lot. Still, the validation was nice.
Years ago, I got the idea to write a web series about archaeology in space. The original story was much, much different but it eventually turned into Gwyddion. To make a long story short, I wrote 10 episodes and there was some interest and an attempt to turn it into a show, but it never happened. I was ok with that because I felt that the story needed to be deeper and more complex, something that cannot be conveyed in web series format. I realized that I did have the basis for hell of a novel series, though. That’s where I am at today.
I also realized that I screwed up a bunch of stuff in terms of archaeology. The experiences I’ve had this year and from watching Time Team have shown me that I need to go back and rework that aspect of the story. This fall, I am taking a class in archaeological investigations that I think will really help me. I will have about 5 or 6 weeks off between terms and I am hoping to write the novel in that time frame, NaNoWriMo style of at least 1,000 words a day. I need to work on some relationships between main characters and revamp my villains. It’s mostly just character work, but it will make the plot deeper and richer in the end.
So why this sudden kick in the pants to finish the novel version of Gwyddion? After all, I’ve been happily procrastinating for 4 years. I don’t want to go into details, but there have been several deaths in my husband’s family in the last 15 months. Two were in the last 2 weeks. I write this blog post while still reeling from the shock and sorrow that surrounds me and my in-laws. I realized that life is too short to keep putting things off. This story is constantly in my thoughts. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about it in some form or another. I always shove it aside and tell myself I’ll do it later.
I’ve decided that now is later.
When my first short story was published in 2013, my husband’s Uncle David told me that he was proud of me and he expected to see more. He passed away last year and nothing more has come out of me except one more short story. It’s time to change that.
I do know that waiting this long was meant to be. There was so much missing from the story that couldn’t be told until I had my adventures and experiences this year. That much I had realized, but I still made excuses to delay writing. I learned today that I can’t afford to wait any longer.
I’m rereading the story in its third and final draft format to reacquaint myself. Here’s what it looked like:
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