I am about one third of the way through the first draft of my first novel! It's been smooth sailing so far, not to jinx anything. Whatever. I'm not superstitious. I decided to use a systematic approach, just because there are nine main characters, and that's a lot to keep track of. I'll talk about my process so far. #1 I started by asking myself a few questions: What is my "North Star"? (What is this story about?) Why am I writing this story? How should this story make people feel? #2 From there, I did what I'm calling a "Character Analysis" for each of my nine main characters. I wrote two pages on each character exploring answers to various questions, such as: How does the character see themself? How do other characters see them? What motivates them? How do they change throughout the story? #3 I established some basic details like setting, time period, and time frame. Then, I considered how the political and societal pressures of that time period would affect each character. I did some basic research on the logistics of the time period (technology, clothes, etc.). Just enough research to start writing the story without getting bogged down in facts. #4 I asked myself, "What kinds of things happen in the story?" And used that to create a rough outline in the form of index cards taped to my wall. Each index card gives a brief description of a scene in the story. I did not make this up myself. It's already a thing, and I heard it from screenwriter Viki King. #5 Lastly! I gave myself some rough deadlines. I wanted to have the first draft done by August 22, 2025. Looks like I'm going to have the first draft done a lot sooner than I thought...maybe May? We'll see. But really...I started thinking about this story way before I started this process. I visualized it in my head like a movie. When I sat down to put pencil to paper, I was surprised at how much I already knew about it. Had I not thought about it so much beforehand I think I'd feel lost and frustrated. But it's all there in my head. Now I'm just working out how to get it onto paper. It's fun! I'm having a blast (0% sarcasm). The hardest thing so far is writing consistently after work. I had to lower my expectation from 2-hour writing sessions to 1-hour sessions. Not going to lie, some days I don't write at all. Still, the important thing is to keep going...keep going...keep... Visit my Pinterest for a visual sense of the story:

This year I will write my first novel. I am going to write the first draft long-hand. I purchased colored paper to help me visually organize the story. I will also be utilizing an outline, which I have not done before. I'm going to be burning through a lot of candles, shuffling through stacks of paper, sharpening the same pencil over and over again, and wiping eraser waste off my desk onto the floor. I anticipate crossing out a lot of words and beating my head over simple spelling mistakes. So far, I have the first two pages written. I will be posting updates on my experience, so stay tuned. Good news! I finished my first novella, The In-Between , on the last day of the year. I ended up writing four drafts of it, each better than the last. It's not perfect, but it's the best I can do presently. I printed the whole thing out and gave it to a beta-reader (a.k.a mom). What's next? I have no fucking clue. I will have to set some time aside to research where/who the heck to send it to. Honestly, I'm okay if nothing happens to it right away. I wrote it and learned how to write better. I am not under the impression that everything I write must be published. Maybe that's because I don't currently support myself with writing, but I'll take advantage of my creative freedom via lack of financial burden. There is something to be said about it. However, the trade-off is diminished time and energy. It is a conundrum I plan to address this year. What are your writing goals for 2025? I'm glad you asked. Here they are: Write my first novel. Expand my circle of writing friends. Stay involved with writers groups, critique groups, and volunteer work (lends itself to number 2). P.S. Fun fact: I taped a picture of Andy Dufresne to the wall above my writing desk. I have a sneaking suspicion that harnessing the qualities that Mr. Dufresne possessed is key to becoming a successful writer. P.S.S. I bought a "Happy Lamp" and placed it at the corner of my desk. I use it one hour each day as I am writing. I think it helps, especially since I write at night after work. It's bright as shit, so if you buy one, don't look directly at it. Casually ignore it like you do an annoying co-worker.

I'm starting to learn how easy it is to overwhelm yourself with writing-related activities that, ultimately, have nothing to do with you sitting your butt in the chair and actually writing. It's tempting...it's dangerous...you think you're writing, but you're not. It's true, being a part of writing groups, critique groups, workshops, and volunteering is good...necessary even, but it's easy to get carried away. The priority is writing. Also, don't forget that you're supposed to be reading as much as you write. Everything else should come second. Do those secondary things in whatever free time you have left after you subtract the time your writing and reading takes. Community is important, but writing is a solo activity. When it comes down to it, it's you in the chair. You need to make sure you're maintaining the headspace you need in order to write your absolute best. What did you do last week? I attended my first GLVWG (Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group) meeting in person! I learned a lot of different ways I can get involved in the group and I'm letting those options simmmmmmer. What are you doing this week? I'm visiting my brother and brother-in-law at their new house in Columbus for Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to spending time with them, seeing their house, and also going to see Wicked!

I'm getting to the end of "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt (I had to renew it from the library twice). What a story. It was also a lesson in good writing. The way she describes things intermixed with the dialogue really transports you. However, I'm learning that I prefer reading/writing shorter fiction--novellas and short novels, mostly. I like the pacing in shorter fiction. It's long enough to tell a fully realized story and create complex characters without getting bogged down in too many details. I like how shorter fiction also just...gets to the point. What did you do last week? I became a member of Greater Lehigh Valley Writers Group (GLVWG). They do these weekly critique groups on Zoom. You get about 12 minutes to read 500-700 words of your writing and the group will critique it on the spot. So far, I have read two excerpts from The In-Between and, each time, got really great feedback. Participating in these critiques has actively made my story better. It's also giving me experience with offering critique. I finished my first writing workshop with Timons Esaias, hosted by Flash Fiction Magazine. The information I learned in the workshop was practical and enlightening. I learned what some of my bad writing habits are, which is crucial. I finished the 2nd draft of my novelette, The In-Between ! What are you doing this week? This week, I will be working on the third draft of The In-Between . Yes, it needs more work. I'm going through a hard copy of it and making edits page-by-page with a pencil and eraser. I love going through it on paper...I feel like I can "see the story" better. I will be reading another excerpt from The In-Between in my critique group. One of the scenes where I hope to get feedback on creating tension. Next weekend, I will be meeting the Writers Group at one of the local libraries! I'm excited to meet everyone in person.

This past Saturday I attended my first writing workshop (all about re-writing); it was taught by Timon's Esaias. I learned a very important phrase: "TV writing". It's like...writing scenes in a story as if you were watching them on a television; apparently it's not a good thing (for prose fiction) and unfortunately I have been doing it (...straight to jail). Timon's said something along the lines of, "We project a television screen in our mind's eye, describing how a person is moving on TV instead of being in the character's mind." And that was something I really needed to be told. It got me thinking how much TV has probably changed writing. I wonder what the writing experience was like before its invention. More pure, maybe? I actually moved to a new apartment this weekend and decided not to bring the TV with me. I wonder if watching less TV will "reset" my thinking and visualization patterns...change how I write. Interesting stuff. What did you do last week? Yesterday, I had an amazing chat with Shannon Huffman, owner of the Authors Only Collective (a writing critique group), Flash Fiction Magazine (FFM), and 101 Words. FFM does an incredible job of fostering a supportive and personable writing community, and its evident by how Shannon takes time to get to know the writers. I posted my short story, The Last Jump for critique on the Authors Only Collective webpage. It sure is nerve wracking putting your work out there for other people to comment on. You can read The Last Jump here . I officially submitted my story, Even Monsters Must Be Born into the Writer's Digest Short Story competition! But I'm not holding my breath because they are announcing the winners (top 25) around February 2025. I have so much writing to do between now and then. What are you doing this week? This week I'm going to be sending 3,500 words of my novella, The In-Between to Timons Esaias for an in-depth critique (it's included with the workshop). I have no clue what to expect. Next Saturday is Part 2 of the re-writing workshop. I want to have some questions ready. Ultimately, I'm still working on the re-write of The In-Between . I am currently on page 36 of 54 (more than halfway!). Although, I realize I'm going to have to go back to find and destroy all of the "TV writing", "he looked"/"she looked", "glances", and excessive descriptions of facial expressions. *face palm*

This past week has been a little crazy for me: work was busy (I work full time as a PA at a local hospital) and I just haven't been sleeping great. I try and write every day from 10pm to 12am-1am after work (I'm a night owl), but this week I found myself already tired at 10 or 11pm. So, the writing was slow and more challenging this week. I am almost half-way done with the re-write of my novella, The In-Between (I restored its original title). So far, it's about 18,000 words (on the shorter side of a novella). This is the longest story I have written so far, and its my first experience with re-writing a story of this length. I'm finding the process extremely interesting. I am really honing in on the personalities of the characters and understanding if their actions throughout the story align with their character. I have had to make changes to some of the scenes within the story because I realized some of the things I had them doing wasn't realistic for them to do. But, the main elements of the story have stayed intact. Also, I am adding more details and depth to the setting and the inner lives of the characters. I think the story is a lot stronger from the re-write so far, but I'm surprised how it's almost more work to do the re-write than write the damn thing in the first place. (Maybe if I had a stronger 1st draft it would less work?...I dunno.) What did you do last week? A few posts ago, I mentioned I was submitting my short story, The Baptism of Genesis Clary , to a couple magazines for hopeful publication. One of them got back to me (a rejection...but a nice rejection) and I haven't heard from the second magazine yet (keeping my fingers crossed). Yesterday, I attended a Book Club Review hosted by The Markaz Review for author Rania Hanna's The Jinn Daughter . It was fantastic! The host asked good questions and I'm impressed with how well Rania did speaking about her work. Here is the link to their Instagram . Yesterday, I also joined a writing critique group hosted by Flash Fiction Magazine. I can share my work with other writers for critiquing and also critique other writers' work. I want to get some experience with critique so that I can volunteer to be a "slush reader" for the magazine. The "slush reader" provides critique on writing submissions for contests and publication to the magazine and basically acts as the first "yay" or "nay" for the submission (think scouts for talent shows like American Idol before the person makes it on TV to be judged by the celebrity judges..aka the editors). What are you doing this week? I'm am SO EXCITED for next Saturday, because I enrolled in my first (online) writing class. It's hosted by Flash Fiction Magazine and taught by Timons Esaias and its all about writing "The Second Draft". I thought the class would be fitting for me, because I am currently writing the second draft of my novella. The class is going to take place this upcoming Saturday and next Saturday, and afterwards I get send Timons 3,500 words of my story and have a one-on-one critique with him.

Yesterday I attended a free zoom event that Flash Fiction Magazine hosts for authors. It's a two hour "ask-me-anything"/open-floor/Q&A with a professional author (this week: Timons Esaias). I had pre-written four questions to ask but was SO NERVOUS to even turn on my camera. Like, major heart-pounding, social anxiety nervous. Basically, every half hour of the meeting I took one baby step towards asking my question. Step 1 (30 minutes in): Turn on camera Step 2 (1 hour in): Raise my hand and wait for them to call on me to ask my question Step 3: Oh, god...I'm talking. Step 4: Celebrate your tiny little success! I must say, I had such an amazing experience listening to all of the authors in the group talk about the craft of writing. It made me feel like I was was A) Not alone in my journey, B) Not crazy to have questions and struggles, and C) Not the only one obsessed with writing. Timons was kind, approachable, and knowledgeable. I have had SUCH a good experience with other writers and editors so far :) What did you do last week? Last week I forgot to write a journal post (sorry). I started the re-write on my novella The In-Between (but I changed the title and it might change again). I wrote a testimonial for an editor I worked with Rebecca Long ( https://www.rebeccaclong.com/ ). She copy edited my short story, Even Monsters Must Be Born , which I'm going to submit into the Writer's Digest short story competition. I had such a great experience working with Rebecca. What are you doing this week? I will still be working on the re-write of my novella this week (and probably till the end of November...it's taking a lot longer than I thought and I've never done this before.)

I would like to take a moment to thank Rania Hanna (author of The Jinn Daughter ) and my parents (Silvana and David) for being the first to read my newest short story ( Even Monsters Must Be Born ) and giving me such AMAZING feedback. I have since done a re-write on the story and I think it's much stronger. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little bit of a bummer to realize I'm not a literary genius (move over, Shakespeare). Don't laugh, but I thought my story was flawless when I asked Rania and my parents to read it...I was fully expecting only compliments with maybe a sprinkling of constructive criticism. After receiving their feedback I had a BIG "Oooooooooh..." moment. But the result was a stronger story and a lesson learned. I am now seeking adoption by a good editor. Punctuation is hard...so is grammar and sentence structure and like...writing. But hey, it takes hard work and time to master a skill. Bottom line is, I've learned that having a "first reader" is indispensable. What did you do last week? Re-writing! No new stories. I did a rewrite of my short story, The Baptism  (actually, I recently changed the title to The Baptism of Genesis Clary ). I finished reading the screenplay for US (Jordan Peele) as I watched the movie (over and over again). What better way to learn how to write a screenplay? What are you doing this week? I'm going to submit The Baptism of Genesis Clary to at least two magazines in hopes that one of them will publish it. It's a horror story with elements of Christianity and undercurrents of feminism. I will let you know if it gets published and provide the link where you can read it! ALSO!!! I plan to start the 2nd draft of my novella: The In-Between . Looking for a new book? Check out The Jinn Daughter by Rania Hanna.

So! Another week has passed. This past week I wrote a short story I'm planning to submit into the short SHORT story competition held by Writer's Digest in November. It's called The Baptism and it's about a missionary's wife that undergoes a life-altering transformation when she visits an indigenous tribe in the Brazilian amazon. My writing prompt for the story was: if I had to write a story where mud (yes, wet dirt) had a significant role, what would I write? Apparently, something creepy. If you'd like to see the visual inspiration for The Baptism on my Pinterest page, here's the link: I have an idea for another short story (I think it's a pretty good one) and I plan to start writing it this week. My prompt: if I were in charge of writing the next Black Mirror episode, what would I write? What would YOU write?? I'm very curious...

A very special thing happened to me this past Friday: I finished the first draft of my novella; I'm calling it The In-Between . Years ago (when I was an undergraduate art student), I remember saying those words to my painting professor - "...the in-between..." I said, mid-sentence; I think it was in reference to one of my assignments. Back when TiVo was popular, I had used it to splice a string of commercials together, cutting out the actual TV show (the main event - the reason one suffered through the commercials). When my classmates, followed by my teacher, walked into my studio (to critique my assignment) I had them take a seat; I told them - in some forgettable manner - that we were going to watch a video I had put together. When I pressed play - and the commercials began - there was a strong sense of expectation in the room. It took about two minutes of toothpaste jingles, drug promotions, and clothing ads for someone to finally say, "...is this all just...commercials?" In those two-something minutes, the atmosphere in the room had grown quite awkward; I'd like to say there was also an increasing feeling of general disappointment - of having wasted time, or even of having been "tricked". When one commercial neared its end, a sliver of hope emerged before being crushed by the beginning of the next commercial. Personally, I was curious how long everyone would watch before figuring it out; I had to bite my tongue to not give it away. When discussing the piece with my teacher afterwards, I had described wanting to create the feeling of being in "The in-between (of something)." "The in-between," she repeated with interest. I had to admit, it was an interesting notion - if not an unsettling title for something that was to come about 8 years later. I had never forgotten those words. Anyways, I'm letting the first draft "simmer" before I do the re-write, at the suggestion of Mr. King in his book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft . A hard-copy of it is sitting in my writing desk's only drawer; I'll probably wait a few weeks before pulling it out again. In the meantime, I plan to write at least one, if not two, short-stories to enter into the short SHORT story competition hosted by WRITER'S DIGEST (deadline, November 15). I won't describe what my story, The In-Between, is about - or what inspired it - just yet; only that, it's the first story that made me think "I HAVE to write it." If you'd like to peek at the "visual collection" for the story (aka my Pinterest board), here's the link:

It has become increasingly apparent to me that you will always care about what you are doing more than anyone else ever can. If you don't call what you do important, nobody else will. If you don't call yourself a writer...an artist...a singer - whatever it may be - nobody else will. If you don't call yourself talented, nobody else will. Most importantly, if you don't believe in yourself, nobody else will. I don't want to be cliche, nor do I want to generalize. Some - myself included - have experienced moments when the people who love us most have believed in us when we were not able to believe in ourselves. But, in the end - and I guess what I'm trying to say is - nobody can do the work for you. Nobody can believe in you as much as you are capable of believing in yourself; and you HAVE to believe in yourself in order to do the work, because it's far easier to do nothing. It is not an easy thing to put yourself out there, but nobody is going to do it for you. You have to start somewhere and beginnings often look like nothing much at all.

The things I love - the things I most desire - I keep very close to my chest; very close, very private. These dreams are tender; they are babies and I must gently care for them before they are ready to go out into the world.