Living the Dream - Part 1

Do you have an unfulfilled dream? I'm sure you do. Perhaps, it is one you have had since your childhood. You may have dreamed of being a dancer, an astronaut, a firefighter or a pilot. My dream is to be a world-famous author with several published works. (I know I could have just said that I want to be a published author, but if you're going to dream you might as well dream big, right?)

My passion for writing started the same way many author's dream did ... from reading. I loved to read growing up; I still do! I loved how the authors opened my mind to worlds and ideas that I never dreamed of before. I loved the way they developed multiple plot lines and sub-stories and then drew it all together for a stunning climax. I loved the characters they created and how they could make you care about them. And the more I read, the more I started to daydream of my own worlds, my own characters and, eventually, my own stories.

"I am a part of all I have read."
~ John Kieran

I started to write down notes for a particular story idea a number of years ago. The more I detailed the ideas I had, the more excited I got until I couldn't continue just making notes and started writing as fast as I could. And the more I wrote, the more the ideas started to pour forth. I eventually had to put the brakes on and back up because I was writing in the middle. I started at the beginning and put down about four chapters of material. I shared what I had written with my wife and a few extended family members and they all were impressed with my writing style and my ability to grab their attention. I enjoyed the compliments, but I must admit I was also a little skeptical of them as well. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I could see the flaws of my rough draft and so I wondered if they were being totally honest with me or if they were just telling me what they knew I wanted to hear. I got my answer shortly I stumbled across a certain website.

In the year 2000, another dreamer took a chance and established a small dot com startup called Stories.com in the midst of a rapidly crumbling dot com world. It started out as a simply idea in that it was a place where people could come and lend their writing talents and ideas by participating and contributing chapters to "interactive" stories. It was very messy and disorganized in the beginning and the site creator, the self-proclaimed StoryMaster, quickly realized additional tools and features were needed. He wanted people to be able to "own" the stories they created so he created member accounts and portfolios for them to store and edit their interactive stories. Shortly after he added the ability for members to create Static Items for members to upload their short stories, poems, articles, etc.

As the site and its membership grew, the StoryMaster quickly realized that they had outgrown the Stories.com name and concept. In September of 2002, it was home to over 15,000 writers and over 150,000 pieces of literature. And with all the added tools and activities available, it was no longer just for stories. So, in January 2003, they unveiled the new site name Writing.com, which is where you will still find it today.

I stumbled across Writing.com back in March 2005 and loved the idea that I could set up a free portfolio and share pieces of my writing with others and have them rate them and review them. I set up my own personal portfolio at http://Writing.Com/authors/nesnejan and started reading and reviewing other people's works. After a couple of months, I added my first piece, The Hunted, based on an actual dream I had when I was living in Denmark. I received great reviews from a number of people who had read it. Everyone who took the time to rate it gave it a full 5-star rating!

Encouraged by this, I started to add the first few chapters that I had shared with my family members. Again, people seemed to love my writing style and the stories I told. I'm not saying it was perfect. They had many editing suggestions that were also very helpful in improving the content and grammar. But, overall, people seemed to enjoy my writing.

Unfortunately, life got in the way and I had to lay it all to the side to focus on other things. I have tried to come back to it on a number of occasions but looming plot and character problems have kept me from making any real progress on the story. I also suffer a bit from "Idea Avalanche". Every time I read or write, it seems, I come up with a new idea for a new story. I started typing up plot and character ideas and saving them on a USB key for future reference because each new idea would derail me from one I was already working on.

"Write without pay until somebody offers to pay."
~ Mark Twain

I eventually decided to focus in on one story idea. It wasn't the one that I started with years ago because it did not have the major plot problems and character flaws the first one had. I outlined my idea for the story from the beginning almost all the way to the end. I say almost all the way to the end because their are some lingering questions over how to tie it all up without making it drag on. I figured that it would be better to just get writing and put the words down on paper and let the end work itself out in the process.

"First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!"
~ Ray Bradbury

I made some progress, but, again, life got in the way and the project was bogged down and brought to a standstill. (Are you starting to see a pattern here?) I eventually realized that if I am ever going to get a book complete, I needed to develop the daily habit of writing and overcome my inner-perfectionistic-editor. It is a universal truth that anyone can write a novel simply by writing one page a day. The trick is to motivate yourself to do it every day until it is done.

"Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending."
~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

I came across another website three years ago that helps people get the bulk of their first (or next) novel written in 30 days. Sounds impossible, doesn't it? Well, come back tomorrow and I will tell you all about it.

In the meantime, go to my portfolio on Writing .com at http://Writing.Com/authors/nesnejan and check out some of the pieces I have written. Sign up for a free membership and take a moment to rate and review the pieces you read. I would love to get your feedback, particularly if you see places where they can be improved. If you like the site, check out some of the other pieces written by other members and do the same for them, or add some writing of your own. If you do add something to the site, or are already a member, leave me a comment so that I can check out your work as well.

I hope to see you back here tomorrow for Part 2 of Living the Dream!