The last few months have been crazy. Finishing up classes at
Clark College, signing up for classes at Washington State University,
publishing my first novel. Wait, what?
That’s right, folks. I finally took the plunge and published
my first young adult novel. Now, it’s no secret that I love writing. Hell, this
blog started out as a way to spark my creativity so that I would write
everyday. However, the soul-sucking writer’s block syndrome I had during most
of those first thousand posts (yes, check the rosters, kids! I posted EVERY DAY
FOR OVER ONE-THOUSAND DAYS STRAIGHT!!!) didn’t remedy itself through daily writing
exercises. What gives? In a word: Motivation.
You see, my sole motivation was not to write every day, but
to post every day. I found it actually taking my creative brain through the
spin cycle and rinsing it off over and over again instead of sparking ideas to
explore. This was not writing. This was blogging at it’s worst. So I stopped.
Then what happened? I enrolled back in college to finish my degree I started
back in [insert mid 1990s date here]. I still have a long way to go, but am on
track to become a high school English teacher within a few years. Yay me. But
you know what else happened? My creative brain was reenergized.
Now, reenergizing a brain is not unlike what Dr.
Frankenstein did with his creation. There are sparks and electricity, sure, but
all inside the head; neurons firing solutions to long postponed projects
rolling around in my brain. Actually, it was a professor who had us read about
and try our hand at Ernest Hemingway’s writing process that started this whole
fiasco. I was hesitant at first. I hate Hemingway. His stories are bare bones,
stripped down, naked of everything except the heart and force me to use my
imagination to fill in the gaps. For some, this is perfectly acceptable. For
me, I found it lazy. Then I read his process and why he wrote the way he did
and gained a further appreciation for his work. I still hate it, don’t get me
wrong, but I recognize his genius. I also will forever be in debt to Hemingway
for his writing process which, though I refuse to utilize all of it, has helped
me not only rewrite a book I’ve been toying around with since high school when
I finished the first draft, but led to better writing and storytelling and not
forcing myself to write when I’m not feeling up to it and also, most
importantly, not writing until I am empty. His best advice? Stop writing when
you know what is going to happen next. Best. Advice. Ever.
So, now that I’ve gone over what has been transpiring over
the last few years, I decided to start my own publishing company and finally publish
my first young adult novel. Instead of taking classes this summer WSU that
would have overlapped with finishing classes at Clark, much to the dismay of my
husband who was looking forward to spending his days alone, I decided to focus
my energy on my writing and going through all the necessary steps to not only
start a publishing company, but actually publish a book. A lot of the skills I
learned while I was the Managing Editor for Clark College’s Phoenix, an art and literary magazine
published and produced by students, that I only got because I was in a combined
Art and English class about publishing that I wouldn’t have even considered had
I not taken an American Lit class and that professor practically beg me to be
in this class. It’s funny how circumstances lead to new opportunities.
I am ready for this new adventure.
For more information on Cory Blystone’s Deadly Rhymes, visit KwirkPublishing.com.
Also available on Amazon.com.
