I just got asked this question by a friend of mine that I hadn't seen in years. How did you start writing? I certainly hadn't planned on doing this. My degree is in elementary education. I took a break from that (pretty much as soon as I graduated) to be a stay at home mom. I had started writing before then, though.
A friend of mine, Lyn, had challenged Meghan and I to begin writing with her. She figured that we had read enough books that we should be able to come up with our own stories. So I took up the challenge and began writing. I really didn't think I'd even finish a story. I figured we each start one, realize that we weren't meant to write and continue on with our lives. Back then, my husband and I each had a desk in the small bedroom we called an office and we would spend our evenings in there. He would play computer games and I would write.
I finally got the draft in a condition where I felt able to share it and I first let Ashley read it. I told her to only go to a certain chapter because I hadn't edited past that. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally came back into the office to see that my sister had read past the point I had told her to. Her response was, "I couldn't help myself! It was so good I had to see what happened next!"
That got my attention. Maybe I was better at this writing thing that I had thought I would be. So I let Meghan and Lyn read it as well. We got together and they started discussing one of my characters. One of them said that she didn't understand why the character was unable to forgive and the other said that she didn't think it was about forgiveness. After that I kind of zoned out because I sat back and listened to them discuss my character's motivation and personality and it started to sound like a book club meeting.
I somehow lost that manuscript in a computer void somewhere. I have no idea where it disappeared to, but I was unable to recover it and for a while, I was too sick at heart to write anything. I felt like I wouldn't be able to do the story justice a second time.
I don't know how long I didn't write, but one day I sat down and began to write again. This time it was the story that is now published on Kindle as Best Laid Plans. I wrote sporadically and it took me nearly five years to complete it (and it's my shortest work).
I didn't set out to write, but somehow it just kind of happened. It kind of reminds me of James 4:13-14a "Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow." I didn't see this coming, but it was the plan God had for my life and I'm excited to see where He leads in all this.
By the way, Lyn Meghan and Ashley have all asked me if I ever plan to resurrect that first story that I attempted to write. I always said that maybe someday I would, but with the new series I've been writing I found a way to work it in to the series so I'm looking forward to seeing what comes of that. It'll be interesting to see if it ends up better now that I've had more experience or if I can't really recreate that first story again. In either case, I'm excited to get the chance to rewrite that first story since it has a special place in my heart.
I've had many people tell me that they have always wanted to write. The best advice I can give you if you're one of those people is to sit down and write. Write, write and write some more. Let your friends read it and give you advice. (Make sure they're friends who can be honest and encouraging at the same time.) You never know. You may find out that you're better at it than you thought, or you may find out that it's not really your calling. But you'll never know if you don't try!
