One Year Later

It just dawned on me two days ago that Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) is upon us, which means that my twins and their story are almost a year old. My first draft of this novel was created during the Nanowrimo competition in 2008, and I have spent the last twelve months re-writing and editing. The draft I'm working on now, number four I think, will be my final one before I start the long process of submitting it to anyone willing to read it.

With one month before the entire process starts again, I took a few days away from physical writing to simply examine the evolution of the twins, and where they will be heading next month when I start feverishly writing the second installment of their journey. I looked at how many hours have gone into them, how many words have been written and re-written for the sake of telling their story as it should be told. One thing is certain: draft number four looks much more full and complete than the first, and that is amazing to me.

This series pretty much has me at its mercy; I couldn't drift from it if I tried. One year ago, I would have considered that a negative. Today, I am happy that I have found a story that commands my attention like this one does. That was always my downfall; I got so easily distracted by new story ideas that the old ones never got finished.

That is when you know you have discovered the story you are truly meant to write. If it invades your mind nearly every waking moment, when you find yourself thinking about it at work, before you fall asleep, when you wake up, in moments of pure silence...that is when you know. At that point, you are obligated and dare I say required to share it.

It is your story.

I wanted to take this moment to thank everyone who has followed me on this journey so far, to all my family and friends who have supported me, to my Reading Team (you guys rock), and everyone who has ever visited this blog either on purpose or pure accident. Finally, to my fellow writers: thank you for your support. Find your story and write it. You are destined to share it.