Artfully Woven

I vowed that this would be the place that would keep me writing on a creative level but I’ve been hiding from my fiction and poetry. I like to pretend that I have been focused, but I have not. I have, however, been engorged in  erotica and adult fiction under the guise of honing my skills.

A friend who has also been in a chronic state of “honing” told me something her husband said that I think clicked for both of us. Her husband simply said, “writers write” and nothing more. My friend replied, “They read as well” knowing that it was a weak argument.

Truthfully, I can call myself a writer if I do not actually write. I know this. I have always known this.

[dramatic pause]

And now I will live it. The journey begins again.

At the urging of my friend Lorri, I have decided to join NaNoWriMo in the hopes of finally completing my novel. Truth be told, I have decided to scratch all previous ideas  for my novel and start from the beginning. In the few days that I have left (it begins on November 1), I will be planning and figuring out just what I want my novel to be about.

The strange thing is that despite the pull to the erotic, I think I am leaning toward a novel that is of a different genre. I have often thought about writing a fictionalized version of my life. I have had tons of experiences that, even to me, seem unreal. They may serve as fuel for an interesting story. Adoption, death, abuse, heartbreak, stalkings, and more. Definitely sounds like a novel to me, don’t you think? The problem is that I often withdraw from anything that touches too close to home.  I guess I will have to tackle that in order to complete this project.

How do you begin to write a novel? Do you just start writing or do you make a detailed plan? Please share your thoughts.