(Side note: I am really into cliched and antiquated phrases. Bear with me)
I decided I wanted to be a writer while in community college a few years ago. I had tinkered around with fiction here and there growing up, but I wasn't one of those child prodigies we the people hear so much about. During a creative writing class, I had a story titled DADDY'S LITTLE MONSTER (subtle, right?) workshopped.
My class loved it. My professor loved it and made copies for other members of the faculty (I kid you not, my friend). I loved it (even though I nearly threw up writing it--that's a story for another day). Of those three things, the last one was the most important. No, not the throwing up, but me, creating something I was proud of for other people to enjoy.
Fast forward to January 2014. I am now a college graduate with a BA in English and no clue what to do with it. I had a day job, an apartment, a cat, and no substantial social life to speak of (because hello, obvious cat lady here). One day, I woke up and said, I'm going to write a book. So I did and kept going. That year, I completed five novels at 55k+ words and a novella. Some of those works have seen and are currently seeing the light of day. I also queried one of those novels, received my first R&R with a lengthy edit letter from a fantastic agent, completed my revisions and then received a crushing rejection. But really, the point of that year was I learned to hone my craft and what the word DISCIPLINE meant.
Now, it's October 2015. So far this year, I have revised three novels from 2014, completed two new novels, and have a half-finished draft I'm tinkering with. Quite the dramatic slowdown from my prolific first year, eh? This year, I've been studying the publishing industry and let me tell you, she is one cutthroat bitch. I've learned how to write a proper query, a synopsis, editing and plotting techniques, marketing, becoming acquainted with my primary demographic's industry expectations, etc. This has been a year of learning for me--finding my voice, further honing my style, and becoming a PLOTTER (which is still wild as hell to me).
My goal for January 2016 is to begin the steps toward querying FAST GIRLS. I write and edit hot, meaning I draft and go straight into two rounds of revisions with no breaks. For me, distance from my MS is a bad, bad thing. This process usually takes me two months. During NaNo, I plan to have daily check-ins and will blog more about my writing process at least once per week.
I hereby solemnly swear (I am up to no good).
