Excellence

I told myself that I wouldn't do this. I wasn't going to talk about books every second post. I tried that and I just read too much to keep up. I am an avid reader ( and when I say avid, I mean AVID) and there are so many incredible authors out there with such incredible stories that there is no way I could do them all justice. I have such a deep appreciation for authors and that appreciation has only gone deeper and deeper as I break out with my own writing career. Writing is proving to be such an intense love/hate relationship. One day I'm typing four - five thousand words and the next I write ten. I have never felt such stress and such excitement.
With all that said, there ARE novels that stand out. Novels that go above that bar of excellence and volt over onto the other side. I while back I read an amazing novel by a very talented and gifted author. This author made me want to write and ever since, I have been a reading and writing fanatic. His stories don't just help pass the time, but they engage your brain and make you think of the people and life around you.

I was going to do a whole blurb on the novel and the author but I think the best thing is for you to just go check it out yourself. I want you to go read "One Step Away" by Eric Wilson. Once you have read that book, you will no exactly what I mean. The novel will speak for itself. You don't need someone else telling you how brilliant it is, go see for yourself. I don't have many followers yet but I would love for all three of you to read this novel. Honestly, it's amazing.
Enough said.

Writers Block = One Stressed Out Writer

It's not the first chapter in a novel that is crippling and hard to write. Oh no, it's that final chapter. It's that chapter that ends the journey and leaves you with nothing but a memory and a finished novel.

I have always stuck to that phrase. I was always being told that writing the first chapter was going to be the hardest. When I was writing my first novel I hadn't been thinking and was just writing down whatever was in my head. I wasn't concerned with POV, settings, characters, or prose. I was simply writing because I had a story that NEEDED to get out of my head and out onto paper. I wasn't thinking of it as difficult. It was fun and it was the easiest thing I have ever written.

I find such relief and yet deep sadness at the completion of a novel. My second book was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. It was magical and it was beautiful, but it was hard. Very hard. Would I do it again? In a heart beat. I learnt so much with that book. I started writing and I didn't stop until that last chapter when I suddenly drew a blank. I felt that no matter what I wrote, it wasn't going to be a good enough finish to such a fantastic novel. No matter what I wrote I felt that it wasn't going to do the novel justice. Finally I settled and just finished the thing.

It was my second novel that led me to say the beginning phrase. After that novel, I was sure that the last chapter was the hardest, after all, I blew through the first chapter like it as nothing but sawdust. I knew the story and I knew where I wanted it to start, I knew every detail about the climax it was only that dreaded last chapter that crippled me.

But now, as I start on my third novel (A crazy thought all on it's own) I take back that first statement. On this novel, the first chapter has been nothing short of terrible. I don't know what's worse: being discouraged at the beginning or discouraged in the end. I'm leaning toward the latter. 

For this newest work, I know where I want this story to go, but I have no idea how I'm going to get there. Until about an hour ago. I have finally finished the first chapter and already I can feel myself getting more courageous and more fired up for this ride. 

Writing has become such an amazing journey. I feel such a calling on my life and I can't wait to share what I believe with the world. I feel so empowered and impassioned. 

If you are a writing I encourage you to keep writing. No matter what you need to write. Discouragement is a killer, so don't let it get you down. :)

Blessings

Hannah