Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Sort of Pregnant With an Alien for 6 Years

I've wanted to be a writer for longer than 6 years. I can remember the moment the epiphany happened - I was riding in the car with my mom at around the age of 13 or 14 and I realized that I lived my life with a storytellers lens - my every thought was basically a continuous script - "then the young heroine sat daydreaming in her car as her mother drove her to ballet class" - Yes, I was the heroine and most of my thoughts were self-centered dramas, but I realized at that point that I wanted to tell stories.

When people ask how my story is going I often feel like my answers are akin to saying "Oh yes, the pregnancy is going great thanks! 6 years! No biggie!" When they ask "So what are you having?" My response feels akin to saying "oh you know, just a three-headed hobgoblin crossed with a penguin, I'm thinking of naming it Sukie!" They respond as any normal person would, awing and cooing, and then probably raising their eyebrows once my gaze is averted and then forget about it as much as they can.

This is how it feels to be writing a sci-if fantasy novel that sounds completely ludicrous whenever I try to explain the plot, setting, or characters! A crazy bun-in-the-oven that only bakes when I'm giving it my full attention.  Sure, there's some haphazard, muse-inspired growth that happens when I'm washing dishes or nannying or flipping through web articles but my awkward brain baby does best when I am fully focused on it - something that's hard to do when I'm working several jobs and trying to manage a household for my (amazing) spouse. Somebody has to do the laundry!

My head feels like an alien crawled into it 6 years ago. And there's only one way to get it out - by writing.

On a positive note - I lovelovelove the Storyist app for iPad. It rocks. I LOVE the notecard feature - I can rearrange my plot so easily! It's given me fuel to keep.on.writing. Someday this brain child will see the light of day. This is my year...!!! *cue epic music*

Okay. Nanny duty calls. Somebody needs help with a Power Ranger.