A Novel Beginning: Week 18
We’ve finally reached the end. These were the last journal entries during the last week I spent working on my book before finally completing it and printing it out for review. It was during the Christmas holiday when so many other things were going on between Christmas shopping, baking, gift wrapping, having the kids home from school and visiting with family. I’m now shaking my head in wonder at how I was able to even make the time to write.
Thursday:
Saturday:
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I gave my husband the neatly wrapped package after all other gifts had been opened Christmas morning. I believe he was hoping to receive it but was pleasantly surprised because he wasn’t sure if I had been able to complete it during the busy holiday week. It was also during this time that I showed the book to family who came to our house for Christmas dinner (but they weren’t allowed to read it) and when I made it known to the rest of my family that I had finally completed the book. I had already made the decision to begin working on my platform once the book was ready for editing so on New Year’s Eve I built my Blog and published my first blog post, When Dreams Wake You Up. Once the Blog was up and running, there was no turning back. I informed family and friends and colleagues about my Blog, my book and my hopes for the future. I was terrified of the response I would get from everyone. But once again, there was a quote to help me push forward when I worried too much about how others would respond…
The response I received from family, friends and colleagues was both encouraging and motivating. The response to my future goals and to my first blog post was amazing. There was only one response that caught me off guard, when a colleague responded to my news with the question…
Well…you’d think that would be an easy question to answer. But responding with the statement, “Because I love to write” just didn’t seem good enough. Why indeed? He knew I wasn’t yet making money with writing so of course, it wasn’t about a paycheck. He knew I was running a business and had family and other obligations so that my time was limited.
His question seriously made me think. It did not make me question my reasons for writing but it made me wonder how to respond to any critic who viewed writing as more of a hobby. Right now, the inner child in me just wants to respond by saying…
I am thankful to have that support, of which I should not have expected anything less.
