I've always had a vivid imagination. Many times it has gotten me in trouble. So when I decided to become a romance writer I thought I had it made. NOT!
There were no story lines or characters or scenes to put down in writing. I kept drawing a blank. Then the dreams started. In my dreams, I became a different person and lived that person's life. The dreams kept repeating until I put them down on paper. Each time I put everything from the dreams on paper, another dream would soon surface.
At first I didn't think anything of these dreams. There were just an annoyance I wanted to be rid of. It was several months before I realized I had the bones of a story. From then on the process changed. As I settled in to sleep, I would bring up the current story in my head and run through it as I drifted off. This brought more of the story out for me and I was able to keep recording it.
The first inkling I had anything worthwhile to write came in my senior year of high school. We had an English assignment to write a one-page Halloween story. I received an A+ for my effort, the only one in the class to do so. Another assignment was to write a speech on a person in history. Since my older brother was an avid history buff, I went to him for advice. Armed with his recipe card box filled with quotes and a scrapbook on Robert Kennedy, I wrote a speech that won a school contest.
However, I was home sick when it was time to read my speech, so friend did it for me. Since I couldn't speak, my speech wasn't allowed to go on to the county level.
With that background, I knew there was a chance I could write something worthwhile. All that was missing was that spark, that inner muse. My dreams.
After a disheartening discussion with my husband, who doesn't believe my writing is anything other than a time-consuming hobby, my dreams are all I have to keep me going. I trust in my dreams. They haven't let me down yet. With perseverance, determination and better time management I will achieve my goal of becoming published.
Written by Patti Olesik.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tell your hubby to keep his disheartening opinions to himself and support you wholeheartedly cuz that's his job!
ReplyDeleteDon't take heart, Patti. Unless someone has spent hundreds of hours revising and editing, getting work critiqued and wringing hands over plot holes, they can't understand what goes into writing a book (or short stories, for that matter). People think you just whip something up and you're done. Like making a cake from a mix. But we understand, and we're rooting for you!
ReplyDelete