One thing I learned from the COVID pandemic is that when I have lots of free time on my hands, I can usually find pointless ways to fill it. Too much eating, too much TV, too much surfing the web, too much eating, etc. I emerged from the pandemic, not with a list of accomplishments, but more like a bear coming out of hibernation.
My recent knee injuries threw me back in the same situation where I had waaaay to much time on my hands. How was I going to spend two months in a wheelchair and not run out of crud to watch on Netflix?
Instead, I decided to do something I have been threatening to do for a long, long time: Write a novel. Not a blog post, not a novella, but a full-blown novel.
Well, I am happy to report that tonight I finished it. “Huzzah!” It clocks in at about 97,000 words, and about 3,000 first-draft typos. How long did it take? 78 days.
Now, I’m no spoiler, so there will be no clues as to the genre or plot. I will tease that it’s not like anything you have seen from me before.
What’s next? As a friend said, “Now the real work begins.” This is true, because this didn’t feel like work. It was a blast! I enjoyed watching the movie in my head as it played out. Did the story go where I expected? No. Did the characters do what I wanted them to do? No. It was a fun journey for me, and hopefully, it will be a fun journey for Chrissie, who will get first crack at it in a couple weeks.
Other than that, there is no announcement, no plan of action. Just a smidgin of satisfaction that I accomplished something that I’ve always wanted to do, and I did it during a time that I could have wasted. For me, that’s a big win.
I’m dying to read it already! If it is of the same caliber of pretty much anything of yours that I’ve read, I’m in for a treat!
I am trying to find ways to be productive. Unfortunately, (fortunately??) in my current line of work, I only have about 30 minutes of productivity per day unless somebody else is having the worst day of their life. Being sedentary is a huge drain on the brain. This weeks project while waiting for a call-going through 45 vhs tapes to see if there is anything that should be digitized before throwing them away. Got distracted watching the April 2002 general conference on one of them. And really enjoyed watching my kids open Christmas presents in 1997.
Chrissie gets it in a couple weeks. When do your faithful followers get to read it? I definitely will be one of those readers because I admire everything you write about. I think it’s admirable that you were able to accomplish this at a very difficult time in your life. Bravo!
Don’t know! Depends on if I want to play the publishing game, or just do it myself.
OOH! I’m so proud of you!! That’s a huge accomplishment! I’m excited to read it! Hooray for you!!! <3
Congratulations! What an incredible accomplishment! It’s especially remarkable because you used your recovery time to do it. That takes a lot of discipline! I’m looking forward to reading your book when it’s released!
Proud of you! Between TV, solitaire on the computer and a couple of other time wasters, it would be embarrassing to count my wasted hours… I did write a book once, but not a novel. It’s still available on Amazon but I haven’t promoted it for years.
Congratulations. I look forward to reading it one day.