Conception of a Novel 

(Portions previously posted on my 1st attempt at a blog.)

   I started this journey when I was 13 after I read a book by V.C. Andrews. I decided right then that I wanted to write a book and be able to hold it in my hands someday.  I wanted to see my name on its spine and the title I'd chosen for it on its cover in big dazzling letters. 
  I wrote little things here and there throughout my school years, but I was humble enough to realize I couldn't write anything worth reading if I didn't live life first. I knew I had to gain experience from many of life's lessons, and endure such things as a broken heart, death of a loved one, falling in love, becoming a nurse, working to make ends meet, cancer in a family member, raising kids, traveling, etc. I knew if I didn't experience every emotion possible that I couldn't possibly create characters for a book. I finally decided I was at that pivotal point when I was 30 years old. I spent a few months gathering my ideas and plot points, and then I began writing.
   The death of a high school friend was the inspiration for my story. I had a crush on him in high school, although he never knew of it. He died at age 30 and left behind a wife and two kids. I knew I wanted to write a YA novel, so I made him into a teenager again. I wrote a few paragraphs every night. Sometimes I put it down for a week or two at a time only to be drawn back as if it was calling to me.
   Four years of writing got me to the last paragraph...and the last word. First and last words encompass a creation, and this was my creation.
   It's immeasurable to state how elated I was to have completed it. But, the hard part was yet to come. I had no idea how many revisions books go through until I had to revise mine.  I had this notion that writers simply had to fix a few typos or add a few commas during their revising, but I quickly learned that was not the case.  I needed to change whole characters, rewrite many paragraphs, add new paragraphs, and take out adjectives that I really liked.  I ended up having a word funeral for a certain few adjectives...  Sniffle, Sniffle.   
     I'm undoubtedly looking forward to the day I hold my own novel in my hands. And I'm even more excited for people to read it.

Heart All,
Kristi

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