I’ve been dropping hints at this for a while, but I might as well come clean and spill the honest truth. At the end of 2008 I started imagining a novel. This isn’t really that extraordinary considering I did and still do imagine novels all the time, but for some reason this particular novel stuck with me. In early 2009 I wrote the first two chapters. After that, life got in the way, as it so often does. At the end of 2009 I finally graduated from college—something that had been hanging over my head for a while, an axe constantly sharpened by my parents. At the turn of 2010 I told myself that it was time to write the damned thing, so on January 9th I sat down and started writing.
The Road Ahead
Because I’m actively writing again, I’m noticing a great deal about the craft—mostly little things. I feel that as a reader of fiction and nonfiction (and poetry, of course) there is an exponential wealth of knowledge to be gained, but unfortunately that can only take you so far. I’ve realized that once you start writing on a regular basis you become hyper aware of all the nuances that go into writing, especially if you read someone else’s work while you’re in the middle of a project of your own. If you don’t, something is wrong.
I thought it would be a good idea to start a place where I can talk about this sort of thing. This is a temporary series of articles detailing my adventures through my first novel. A lot of what follows you probably already know, but hopefully the parts that you or the parts that you’ve overlooked will make up for it. It’s silly to think there’s nothing left to learn. I’m learning every day. I look forward to opening up a line of discourse with Xenith’s readers, to learning even more.
The current title: Rebellious Bird
