I'm writing a book! (week 1)

If you've been around the blog for even just a few months, you'll probably know that I am head over heels in love with the art of writing. I love poetry, short stories (although I'm not terribly good at them) and most of all, I adore writing books.
There's been a significant amount of radio silence around here over the past month and a half, partially because I had an exam at the end of June that I was busy studying for, and partially because I've been picking up speed on a few writing projects ... I've been writing and sending queries out for Seeing Voices, and plotting and planning for a new novel. This one doesn't have a title yet, but the finishing details for my outline kind of fell into my lap by accident a few weeks ago, and when I found myself with enough detail to actually write the book (!) I decided to go ahead and do it. My goal is to have a rough draft all finished up before I have to go back to school and my free time drops to approximately 0.

Stats from week 1:
word count: 22,700 words out of an estimated 70-80,000 (that means I'm more than 1/4 the way there!)
chapters completed: 3.5 out of around 13
hours spent writing: 21? (that's a rough guess)

For those of you who may be curious, this book is about high school students, dogs, anxiety, friendships, first love, and puzzling out faith in God. One of my favourite characters is a Golden Retriever named Chica, and one of the characters I keep getting irritated with (before I remind myself to be mindful of the many different perspectives that make up a story) is an 11th grade student named Emma.
This is my first time writing a small amount of romance, which is terrifying (romances in books can go so wrong so fast) but also really fun (I am dying of cuteness and they haven't even held hands yet).
My main character's name is Darcy, and when I first started developing her character last summer, she was supposed to be a university student who loved astronomy and shared a house with three other girls. So far, stars haven't even been mentioned, she's turned into a high school student who lives at home, and one of the three other girls got cut completely from the plotline (the other two survived, but in very different roles than originally planned).

Week one has been exhilarating, hilarious, exhausting, and fun. Writing another book makes me feel like I am alive in a way that I haven't been in years. During first year university, I was so overwhelmed with the new workload (and a new job) that I put all recreational writing aside. I even thought sadly to myself that I would probably never write another book, that writing was something I did as a kid, when I had time. Just a silly fun hobby.

IT ALMOST KILLED MY SOUL. First year was really hard, and stressful, and made me feel worn out and gray and flat, like I was going through the motions for no reason at all. By the time I was finished, I had no ideas, no inspiration, and no desire to write again because I was so tired. I remember trying to make decisions about my job, my schooling (part time? Full time? Schedules and hours and calculating finances into the future) and just ending up in tears because I wanted to write so badly it ached. 

That was a huge turning point for me and ended up with me making the scary decision to cut back on my work hours for no other reason than I wanted more time to write. It hasn't always been easy (writing is actually really really hard work 99% of the time) but taking myself seriously, writing query letters, and planning outlines for new books makes me feel like my world has popped back into bright, vibrant colour.

So, after week one of my newest novel project, that's where I'm sitting. I'm tired, but thrilled. I can't believe how close I was to giving up on this altogether ... and I am so speechlessly thankful that I didn't. I'm putting my head down as we make our way into week two, ready to churn out another few chapters (right in the midst of full days of our church camp! ahh!)

What do you love so much that it makes your world come alive? Have you ever had to put it aside for a time? HOW DID YOU COPE?!?!?

xx,
Olivia