My 8th and 9th grade teachers told me I was a good writer. The professor I admired most in my Master’s program told me I was a good writer. I love to read. So why not write the book that’s been swimming in my head for years? Should be a breeze, right?
It’s been seven years since I started on this “breezy” mission. Granted, I started slowly, maybe once a month taking time for a writing session, but I accelerated until I had full days to myself to write. And here’s the thing—I’ve found joy not just in the writing but in the whole messy process and now, finally, I have completed the first book of my trilogy—not a breeze—a work of dedication, discovery, and fun. (And book two is well on its way.)
I know I am not alone feeling a bit bludgeoned by the challenge of writing one’s first best book ever. Here is how my husband, the illustrator for my book Terracolina, describes the steps towards mastery:
- Unconscious incompetence
- Conscious incompetence
- Conscious competence
- Unconscious competence.
Thanks to a ton of support from my writing partner, critique groups, beta readers, and editors I’ve arrived at step 3. Sometimes I think I’m even at step 4, but I’m never sure if that’s an illusion. After all, that requires a state of unconscious awareness, which may be an oxymoron.
Where are you in your writing journey?