source: www.holdingwomanspace.com
Last summer I finished my very first novel. I sat down at my computer everyday and wrote until the sky grew dark and the stars came out. The process was an overwhelming roller-coaster of highs and lows, frustrations and triumphs and sometimes a
The story itself was rooted very much in my own life. The narrators, a daughter and a granddaughter, told a a separate story, woven together through repeating themes and questions. Reading back on what I wrote, I realize that this first novel was an attempt to understand my roots and come to terms with the family and lifestyle in which I've been raised.
Like I said before, it was completely, 100% me wrapped up in 338 pages.
My Dad always says that crafting an art has layers. First, no matter what the medium is (music, painting, dance etc...) you have to build upon your own experience. He believes that looking inward is the starting point to any creative development.
The next layer of advancement begins when you take inward pieces of yourself and share them in a way that applies to the broader world. His example is this: let's say you've struggled with anxiety everyday of your life. If you can write a piece of music or draw a picture about anxiety that makes other people think about the struggles they have in their own life, than you've succeeded.
Ideally, I would like to move on to this level of writing. I want to write a story that is not literally my life, but contains a theme or idea from my experiences that I want to explore.
It is this aim that fuels my next novel project. The story is for children this time, so the characters, setting and plot are more whimsical and exciting. It's a story about perfectionism-- something that I've struggled with since my early teenage years.
I'm a little nervous about moving beyond the realm of just...me. But I think it's the push I need to continue my writing progress.
Wish me luck
-Loni
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