In a matter of two days, I will have been writing seriously for two years. Maybe someday I'll write more in detail on how I actually started writing my first
January 18th I created my document at 9:24 AM.
When I try putting it in perspective, two years is simultaneously an eternity and a passing thought. So much has happened, but in the grand scheme of life and time, so little has happened.
I've learned and done a lot, though. And I'm gonna put it in a post for you. So here we go: Things I've learned and done in my two years of writing.
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IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned that you just have to sit your bottom down on the chair and write.
(unfortunately, it isn't going to write itself. Writing is hard.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned how meaningful writing buddies are.
(you all are so encouraging. Thank youuu! <3)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned how distracting social media is to the greatest extent.
(I'm looking at you, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Goodreads.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've become a master procrastinator.
(Suddenly watching the neighbor mow his lawn is a thousand times more interesting than editing.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned how patience-testing editing can be.
(*runs away to become a Hobbit in middle earth to forget about my editing problems*)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned how awesome NaNoWriMo months are.
(I've done Camp NaNoWriMo three times and NaNoWriMo twice. There are serious motivators, people.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned the importance of setting deadlines and writing every day.
(Though, easier said than done. Ha.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've realized how important it is to save my work.
(Unfortunately, I've learned this the hard way.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned how stressful writing can be.
(Especially when insecurities, doubts, and anxieties start popping up. But I'll keep writing cause I love it.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I don't think I've really ever been bored once.
(There's always something writing, reading, blogging, or editing related to get done.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've discovered the wonderful world of YA books.
(And now I have too many books to read HELP.)
IN TWO YEARS OF WRITING...
I've learned that I never ever want to stop writing. It's what I do, now. Cause I'm a writer.
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- Katie Grace
Have you checked to see when you first started writing?
What have you learned through your years as a writer?
What have you learned through your years as a writer?
- - -
CONNECT WITH ME!
I started keeping a journal when I was probably 6. It has been a long time since than, and I write every day! I love writing. As for blogging, I started my blog in July,so not very long ago at all.
ReplyDeleteIn Christ,
Paige
Ahh, journaling. I think I might've started my first journal around that age, too. Six or seven. It's so fun to look back and see my scrawled and very short entries. :P
DeleteOoh, I'll have to check out your blog!
Thanks for commenting, Paige! <3
Yes it is! I have a journal that I brought to church with me right after I learned how to read and I wrote down "notes"from the sermon like my mom!💕 I still have it!
DeleteBefore that I just drew pictures and sounded out words.
Your welcome!! : )
*nods* So true. Especially the part about always having something to get done. Since I really, really started writing seriously, I don't think I've ever had much "free time". There's always been something on my giant writing-related to-do list, and I've never had the chance to get bored because I had nothing to do. I really like it though. I'm glad I always have something to occupy my time.
ReplyDeleteIt's really cool that you've learned so much! Thanks for sharing! :)
Exactly. It's overwhelming sometimes, but otherwise I'd waste even more time on social media or doing nothing than I already do. :P So I owe a lot to writing. :P
DeleteYes! Of course. :D
It's awesome to read what you've learned during those years. I've been writing since I was 13/14 and it was amazing because I didn't think about my writing, I just wrote. It was liberating to put all these ideas on a paper. But as I got older I learned through writing a lot about myself - what I like, what I don't like and most of all, how much my mood can affect my writing. The next step in my writing was probably writing in english as it isn't my mother tongue. Whoever says writing is waste of time doesn't know the magic behind it so I wish you many years of writing :)
ReplyDeleteOooh, English isn't your original language? What is it, then? That would be so hard to write in a different language. o.o
DeleteI speak Slovak language and I've been studying English for 14 years now so it's not that hard to write in it considering I still study it in uni and I read books and watch movies in English but I definitely think I still have holes in grammar. :)
DeleteLoving this post. Particularly the first one. And the procrastination one . . . (In my defense, listening to YouTube and playing Solitaire? I'm mulling over story ideas! Based on songs!)
ReplyDeleteI first started writing in 2012 or 2011, one of the two . . . since then, I've learned a lot. But especially the part about how if you want to get something done, you have to just sit down and do it.
As writers its always fairly easy to make our procrastination part of "writing." Cause really anything can be research if we try. xD
DeleteOoh, so you've been writing for a little longer than I have. That's awesome. :D
I first started writing in June, so basically when I read the Ilyon Series and set my goal as high as "to be better than Jaye". :D
ReplyDeleteSo pretty recently. Jaye was part of the inspiration for me to start writing, too. :D
DeletePretty high goal to be better than her. Good luck with that. ;) Does this mean you want to Indie publish?
Definitely!
DeleteI started writing a book when I was like 9 or something but I started coming up with the idea around the time I was 7. I started the book I'm working on now 4 years ago but for the first about 3 years I only wrote maybe a page or two every month. I guess you could say I got really serious about writing when I finally completed my first novel draft in November 2014 :)
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome! :D It's always cool when people start writing when they're younger so you have work to show for it and see how you progress throughout the years. :D
DeleteAAH, I can SO relate to number eight! I learned to save my work the hard way, too ;(. I was writing my entry for the 5MS contest, it was the day of the deadline (have I ever mentioned how last minute I am?), and I had been non-stop editing ALL week ... and then my computer went and ate up all my work and wouldn't give it back. And I hadn't saved it anywhere else. I must say, I kinda panicked. But my awesome Dad came and saved everything, so ... that's how I learned to save things :D.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, when you become a Hobbit and run to middle earth to get away from editing, take me with you! We can run from editing together :D.
I have bad memory, so I'm not entirely sure when I started writing :D. I feel like I was around eleven when I started my first novel (I must say, that novel is still sitting in a pile, never finished and untouched for the last ... forever). I think last year (or the year before) was the year I started to get more serious, though. Like I said, bad memory, so this could be inaccurate :D.
Oh PHEW. Dad's are great for that. :D (I'm so last minute, too. You're not alone. xD) So... forgive me if I've already asked this... did you get it done in time?
DeleteI WILL! Ahhh, if only. It would be soooo epic and awesome. :D
Ha, I don't think I'll be looking at my first novel again anytime soon. I think all writer's first novels are usually sitting in the dusty cupboard held with a lock and key. :P
And you're not the only one with a bad memory! My memory is awful. :P *highfive*
Yeah, I ended up being able to send it in ... about four hours before the deadline XD.
DeleteYes! I was watching 'An Unexpected Journey' last night, and commented to my siblings that we should all go live in the Shire :D. I mean, come on, it's so GREEN.
My first novel is locked in an air-tight box, and the box is locked in a dusty cupboard, and the cupboard is locked in a dark, dingy closet. And I ate the key.
Now that you mention it, I think I remember you telling me that before. Wow. I really really really hope that you win! Otherwise I'd still love to read it. :D
DeleteI KNOW. Green and sunny and happy and just a PERFECT writing spot. *happy sigh*
You ate the key. o.O Well, certainly no one's gonna get at it now. xD
I started writing when I dictated "Bambi's Gonna Go To Faline" to my mom. I was probably about three or four. I've learned a lot of those same things through writing too. It's hard, but SOOOO worth it.
ReplyDeleteAwww, that's so adorable! Do you still have that story somewhere?
DeleteI love this! I found it really encouraging. I think I am just now beginning to really get into writing. I wrote a whole "book series" with my best friend when I was about 10 years old or so, and after that I didn't really get into novel or story writing as much as blogging. (that book series, though...HA!)
ReplyDeleteLately, however, I have been really inspired and I have been doing a lot more in the way of writerly things! So..yeah. :)
Oh, and side note: I love your blog. Like, a lot. Keep up the good work!
Haha! I'm super impressed with writers that are able to co-write novels. Seriously. It's hard to put your minds together and understand where you both want the story to go... So that's awesome. :D
DeleteAww, thank youuu! That makes me happy. <3
I wish I had kept track of when I first started writing. Glad I'm not the only one who considers Hobbit life.
ReplyDeleteIt's not too hard to find if you still have the document of your first novel stored somewhere on your computer. It'll have the "date created" on the word document settings.
DeleteWe should start a clan of people who will move away together and start a little Hobbit home place. :P
Thanks for commenting!
Thats awesome! I hope your next two years of writing are even more blessed! =D I'm with you on the procrastination. I mean, staring at the ceiling is totally more important then editing, right? ;D
ReplyDeleteI've been writing for eight years. The biggest thing I've learned is you cannot write to please other people. I tried writing a story that I thought would please my sister, and it was an epic fail. I've learned the only person you should write for is God.
Awesome post, Katie! Happy writing!
-Mikayla-
Totaaaally more important. ;)
DeleteWow, eight years? That's... impressive. You must've stared writing pretty young. And the lesson you learned is a very good one to remember. It's hard to please people.
Thank you, Mikayla! I wish you the best in your writing as well. :)
I've been writing since I was eight. Half my life right now. =D
DeleteThanks for being such an encouraging purson. You don't realize all the sunshine you put into peoples lives.
-M-
Whoah, half your life is crazy to think about. o.O
DeleteAwww, this comment put such a big smile on my face! <3 Thank you for being so encouraging to me as well. You're awesome, Mikayla. *hands you delicious fresh baked cookies* :D
*Takes cookies and eats* Thank you!! Thats just what I needed tonight. =)
Delete*Hands you fresh cookies* After all, its only fair. ;)
By the way, I love your new banner!!
DeleteAww, thank you so much! I'm glad you noticed it. :D
DeleteI started writing in September of 2014. Well, March really, but I wasn't very serious about it until September. In other words, the Autumn of 2014 is when I officially fell in love with words and their amazing art. ;) Hehe.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Katie!
(And oh my goodness, your blog is so darn pretty!!!)
That's awesome. :D I'm excited for your two year anniversary that's coming up (fairly) soon.
Delete(Ahhhh thank youuu!!!)
OMG I totally get you for the neighbour mowing his lawn part! I don't know how many minutes I wasted because of him XD
ReplyDeleteRight? RIGHT?! The things we do to avoid editing and writing when we don't feel like it... Oh writers... *sigh* :P
DeleteCongratulations on the two year writing anniversary!
ReplyDeleteI found this so motivational; I too am a "major procrastinator".
Kate x
www.theteenaspect.blogspot.co.uk
Thank you so much, Kate! Procrastinators unite. xD
DeleteI started writing......over a year ago I believe. Sometime in November, realizing that I had just missed NaNoWriMo. ;P
ReplyDeletegosh, I know right, the neighbor mowing the lawn is just wayyy too intriguing. yeah, procrastinating. We're best buddies him and I. I really should be writing at the moment..ha ha...
SERIOUSLY. Old writing is SO bad. SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO BAD! gosh, why did I ever write that..stuff? bad. bad. bad. Seriously, eight-year-old me (before I gave up writing then picked it up again,) wrote a story about a little boy. WHY?! Why not a girl?! What was wrong with me. ;P I don't dare show them to anyone. Ever. Nope. yikesssss. ;P
I'm just glad it's improved. Katieee, you should be writing. Right nowww. (as should I, we're in the same boat.)
Daww, that's gotta be disappointing. :P
DeleteHeh... heh... So should I. *shifty eyes* Though... the ceiling looks pretty interesting right now.
UGH. SO BAD. I TOTALLY GET YOU RIGHT NOW. Ewwww. *cringes* *cringes a million times* *shoves manuscript away* *sigh* :P
Sarah, I knowww. I knowww. I SHOULD be writing. But am I? Ha. No. *sighs and lumbers off to write*
You've definitely accomplished a lot in the past two years, which is great! I started writing in 2014 and I've never looked back, really. WE DO NOT SPEAK OF THE FIRST NOVEL I WROTE. I don't even refer to it as my first novel. It's that bad. *shudders*
ReplyDeleteWriting is stressful and hard but honestly, it's my favorite thing that I do. So I feel ya there. I WILL NEVER STOP. Whether I end up published or not, no one can make me stoooop.
As for what I've learned. Hah. Soooo much. About editing. Character development. Story structure. And a whole load of odd things that I probably don't need to know. The sharpness of letter openers, when cast iron pots were first made, how to light a match with your teeth... s'all good. xD
Heyyy, we both started writing in 2014! *highfive* BUT NO WE WILL NOT SPEAK OF YOUR NOVEL AS LONG AS WE DON'T SPEAK OF MY NOVEL, OKAY? DEAL?!
DeleteEXACTLY. Writing is kind of addictive in the best way. xD Something would have to be seriously wrong with me if I stopped writing. Like, I'd have to be dead or something. xD
Ahh, the things we writers know. I've learned that a sandstorm can become so harsh that it can peel off the layer of your skin. *cough* Eyelids. *cough* Not... morbid or anything at all... *eye twitch*
My biggest fear is that I'll go blind or something - which, let's face it, really isn't the biggest of possibilities - and I won't be able to write anymore. Because how can I use a computer well? HOW CAN I EDIT TO MAKE THINGS PRETTY IF I CAN'T SEE. We writers are strange.
DeleteOH MY GOSH, I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THAT. Ack, that would be the /worst/. Or loosing my hands. I've also thought about that and wondered how easy it would be to type/edit/and such with my feet.
DeleteI've also thought about how loosing all my memories from some accident would be kinda interesting with a writer, because then I could read over my novel with a critical eye and see what needs to be changed and what's good and everything. xD But when I think about it, that's what beta readers basically are for, sooo. :P
Oh I love thissss. I'm grateful for writing buddies too! *waves* xD
ReplyDelete*waves and hugs you* <3
DeleteThis is an awesome way to celebrate your two years of writing! I'm not sure I could pinpoint when I started writing :)
ReplyDeleteIt was fun writing a blog post for this. :D Thanks for reading!
DeleteOh, I can totally relate to #2 and #5! Congrats on two years of writing! That's so awesome!
ReplyDeleteI've always enjoyed writing, and I penned my first story when I was eleven in 2010. *shudders* It was really bad. ;P
One of the things I've learned is that the story that seems to be your best work now, won't be your best work in a year or two. I started my first "novel" in 2013 and I thought it was the best thing I had ever written! Now it's buried somewhere in all my files and I NEVER want to see it again.
I've also learned a whole bunch of random facts that I will probably never have to use; but they're interesting all the same!
However, if I ever have to fly a Spitfire, they might come in handy. :P
Ahaha, yesss. I thought my first novel was *pretty* fantastic, and then I read it over and had a cringe-attack.
DeleteHehe. xD
I started seriously writing in November 2011, because my mom said I had to do NaNoWriMo. xP I was eleven years old, and I wrote 5,000 words for that first NaNo. I had written page-long not-fit-to-be-called-stories before then (*shudders*), but that was really my start with writing. I fell in love with it. xP
ReplyDeleteJust for the record, that "story" is buried deep, deep, deep inside the folders on my thumb drive, because if I read it, I'll erase it. o.o
Congratulations on two years of writing! You're immpossibly good at it for having done it for only two years...
Wow, and think about it: Four years later, you wrote 50,000 words in a month. o.O So, so impressive.
DeleteAh, the memories and horrors of first novels. xD
Thank you! You've been awesome and such an encouragement through all of this. <3 *glomps*
Aghhhh.... Over the years I've been writing I learned how books are ACTUALLY published! Now I also know how hard it is to write even a single draft-to come up with a plot, characters, and to keep working with your book and battling all the whispers in your head trying to tempt you to give up. One of the greatest things I've learned though is to keep working with your story. Many times I've wanted to quit my first drafts but I forced myself to stick with them. The ones I wrote in 2015 I'll never begin to edit but I know they were worth writing anyway!
ReplyDeleteI started to take writing seriously when I turned 12, so it's almost two years for me too!
Oh my goodness, I TOTALLY forgot about that point! Ha, I thought publishing a novel would be easy until I learned how publishing really worked. Oh my. Thank you so much for pionting that out!
DeleteAww, that's awesome! Happy almost anniversary to you. ;)
These are some great things to have learned. ^ ^ Many of these I discovered over the years. I started when I was 11. I have no idea what month or day. My first novel was awful. I've learned so much in my eleven almost twelve years of writing it'd take a whole long spiel to tell it all. XD
ReplyDeletestoritorigrace.blogspot.com
Everyone's first novel is awful. xD
DeleteHeh, maybe sometime you'll write a blog post on it? It'd be super interesting. ^.^
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH. And omg I seriously wish i'd like noted the day (or at least year?!?!) I started writing. *facepalm* I remember trying to pen a story when I was 12, but pfft, we're not going to count that. I finished my first book when I was 15...so I guess I've been writing for nearly 7 years now. :O OMG THAT SEEMS A LONG TIME. And I still feel like a dilapidated melon who has no idea what they're doing. XD That will probably be my legacy...but ah well.
ReplyDeleteOh yes SAVING WORK and backing it up!?? Definitely a good lesson to learn. xD
And writing is really stressful. It isn't all rainbows and creative fun. D: But still worth it completely.
One thing I've really learned is that sharing your writing isn't as numbingly scary as one thinks it's going to be. XD And it can be rewarding and help you grow!
Seven years is a longggg time oh my goodness. o.o That's super impressive that you've stuck with it the whole time and powered through editing. xD
DeleteSaving work. AHAHAHAAHA. Right after I published this post I lost some of my work and the irony and sadness sigh. :P
Very stressful. I don't quite regret it, but wish I knew what I was getting myself into when I first started this "writing" thing. :P
Thank you for your comment!
Oh my gosh, I've been writing for as long as I can remember. In first/second grade I began writing (adorable & terrible) short (short!) stories, usually fairy tales. (I wrote a Sleeping Beauty retelling once about a princess who, instead of being pricked on the finger, steps on bubble gum on the ground and gets stuck. When a prince gives her a Hershey's kiss, she gets unstuck!) ;) I've seen myself doing many others things I could enjoy, but never as much as writing. :) It's always a passion.
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOODNESS THAT SLEEPING BEAUTY STORY IS SO ADORABLE! I can TOTALLY picture it as a children's book. It's so cute. <3
DeleteBooks and writing. They're both too awesome. :D
I can so relate with this! Basically ever since taking writing seriously, I have learned some of the similar lessons you have!
ReplyDeleteAnd I have no idea how I have never found your blog before, but I am following now :)
I love love love your blog :)
-Lauren <3
lovingourcreator.blogspot.com
Aww, I'm so glad your found my blog! It makes me happy. <3
DeleteHey, Katie! Here's your prompt for the flash fiction challenge: https://youtu.be/RzhAS_GnJIc
ReplyDeleteYou may base your story on the video, the song, or any combo thereof (just no Hunger Games references, though this song does tie in to the movies). 1000 word max. Looking forward to what you write!
Ooh, thank you for getting me this so fast, Rachelle! This will be interesting; I'll just have to try to block out the Hunger Games meaning out of my mind. :P
Delete*grins* I hope it's not too difficult to do. I'm not really a Hunger Games fan, but I like this song. :) And I feel like the video has a lot of scope for inspiration.
Delete