Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Dare to Dream

So, here I am writing my first blog post. I honestly never thought I'd start one, but after spending hours upon hours reading various author blogs and websites, I got The Itch. As in, The Itch to start my own blog. As in, The Itch to create another outlet for procrastination, and hopefully amusement (for myself, obviously).

No, I am not an author, silly reader (is there anyone even out there?). Didn't you read the little profile blurb on the side of the page? No? Well, I suppose now's a good time to fill you in:

I am an aspiring author.

Bah! Writing that makes me squirm and want to hide under a blanket. It's kind of been my little secret for the past year and half, you see. I've been working on my first YA novel for almost two years and I just recently finished the first draft (woo!), but I've only told a select few people. Why? Well, to be honest, it's because I'm afraid of what people might think. I know the immediate reaction is probably along the lines of, "You want to be an author? Yeah, okay." Or, "Can you...you know...write?" Which I perfectly understand. It's not something you hear everyday, and those who know me might write it off as a phase.

Here's another reason I've kept my writing on the down-low: When I'm finally done editing and revising my novel, I fully intend to query agents. And I expect to be rejected. I know it's a tough industry, and you have to be amazing to get an agent, let alone a book deal. Not everyone who reads my book will love it. So, the more people know about my dream, the more people will know when I get rejected. And I think that might be slightly embarrassing to put myself out there and let the world see me fail.

But here I am, "coming out". It's true, and it's my dream. MY DREAM! And I won't be embarrassed for having a dream and chasing it. Sure, it might not come true. Maybe I won't ever get published. Maybe I won't even get an agent. But I have hope, and I'm going to do all that I can to make this happen. And at the end of the day, published or not, it's about me doing something that I love.

Write. Create. Explore. Dream.

Right now it's about the journey. The process. The really hard work and the determination to get better. So, if you'd like, you can join me on this journey. Maybe some of you have secret dreams too? I'm sure you do. I hope you have the courage to follow them.

Until next time!

15 comments:

  1. Amanda, good for you. I read your comment on Natalie's blog. I found some crit partners at a conference. It was nice to meet people face to face, but I've heard that others meet their crit partners online.

    Good luck with your writing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi! I'll definitely have to see if there are any conferences by me. I just checked out your blog and saw your picture with Maureen Johnson and Stephanie Perkins--jealous! Thank you, and good luck with your writing also!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great to meet you! I found you off Natalie Whipple's blog. ;) A great way to meet people is to click on a commenter's name and go check out their blog. I'm excited to get to know you better! :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Amanda, I too found you through Natalie's blog and wanted to stop by and say hi :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Welcome to the blog world--you're off to a good start. I've kept my own aspirations largely secret, and part of it is because I just don't want to have to answer the question 'what's your book about?' which is probably part of being afraid of what people think. I'll take the approach that Stephen King espouses, and claim that I'm 'writing with the door closed.' It's almost ready to open, however. Look forward to your next post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, yes, also found you through Natalie...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh my gosh, you guys! Your comments just made me so happy :D Nice to meet all of you, and thanks SO much for the support! I'm off to check out your blogs too...yay for writer friends!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Amanda, not sure if you are ready to share and it's ok if not.. but I'm wondering what your novel is about :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hi Amanda! Congrats on your new blog! :) Love, Your Biggest Fan

    ReplyDelete
  10. Look at you! All this traffic on your first post! I call that the Natalie Effect. :P

    If you're looking for writerly friends, *raises hand* I'm available!

    Also, the forums on Nathan Bransford's blog are a great community of really friendly writers, and there's always room for more.

    Also, there's a HUGE community of writers on Twitter. Follow everyone you can and start talking!

    I'm sure I'll see you around.

    CV
    www.charleevale.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Cristina- Eeep! Well, I haven't yet hammered down my short summary, especially since revising is causing it to change. When I finally do get it down I'm sure I'll post something about it on here! It is a paranormal romance though :) Is it sad that I wrote an entire draft and still can't properly summarize it? Ha.

    Tina- You found my blog!! Yay! Thanks for being the best (and practically only) fan ever! :)

    Charlee- Haha, it is definitely the Natalie Effect! I'll have to try it more often....

    Yes! Be my friend! I'm so excited! I'll be checking out Nathan Bransford's blog, thanks for the tip!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Welcome to the blogoshpere (and to Natalie's influence haha)! I think a lot of us have trouble talking about writing, especially in person, because so many people don't take it seriously. I know that people shrugged me off when I tried to talk about it at first, but you'll find the writing community online is very supportive. I look forward to hearing about that book of yours, and don't worry, sometimes summarizing it is the hardest part. :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. Good luck with both your writing and your blog (I guess they're the same thing, in a way, hmm...)

    Anyway, it's nice to see a fellow new writer coming out of hiding. It's funny - I can update my Facebook status with a picture of my boy falling over, and everyone comments, and I post that I'm writing a novel and I get 1 like. From a friend who is a writer. I know where you're coming from - have your dream and chase it!

    ReplyDelete
  14. I found you through Natalie, too! It's so fun to see all these supportive writers coming together to welcome you to the blogosphere. I totally agree with Charlee—Twitter's a fabulous place for writers! I'll follow you and try to introduce you to a couple of my good twitter friends. :) (I'm @olsonkayla on there, by the way.)

    Nice to meet you! Good luck with writing and blogging!! :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. *Eyes bulge out of sockets* MORE FRIENDS! Oh, how I am starting to love this writer community I didn't even know existed. :) Thank you so much guys!

    ReplyDelete