The Gift Of Learning

As I've been sharing, since late September I've embarked on a journey to remake myself technologically on two fronts:

- Learning to create a website
- Moving into the digital photography age (to, among other things, aid above mentioned website).

Primarily this has come about because as a writer, I need a web presence, and I need to give myself the tools to have that web presence.  But I also want to learn these things as potential new additions to my resume, in hopes of making some sort of career change in the near future (though that whole path is still unclear to me).

But you know what? I'm in the midst of my second and third classes on this journey (XHTML/CSS & SEO) and I'm realizing something else.  The capacity to learn is a gift from God.  And it is a gift we frequently take for granted.

The desire to learn is hard-wired into us.  Why else do small children put things in their mouth, touch the hot stove they were warned away from, or have a deep desire to press elevator buttons?

To learn.  To experience life.

As we grow older, rites of passage are tied to learning--driver's ed and passing your exam to get your license (and your independence).  Graduating from college into your chosen career path.

And some people simply enjoy being life-long students even if they have no particular career goal in mind.

Have you ever just burned with a desire to learn a long list of things?  Then panicked in the next moment because you wondered how you could possibly live long enough to learn all you wanted to know?  It's amazing, this gift of learning, of exploration.

It gives us inspiration to keep pressing forward to meet a new day.  Learning something new gives us a way to help others, and to allow others to help us.  It keeps us fresh and revives us.

My only hesitation about embarking on this web design journey was knowing that it was going to force me to table my writing for a while.  But I have to be honest, it's been nice to have a break from my novels.  Writing and the publishing industry was becoming stale to me.  Taking a different path, learning new things, has been a breath of fresh air.

Learning something new is exciting.  It refreshes my spirit, even though the going is very hard and very time-consuming and I despair whether or not I will grasp these coding languages as well as I need to.  But I will come out a little wiser in the end.

And I suspect that it will in turn give me a new appreciation for my writing journey when I return to it, and I will tackle my next novel with renewed fire.  I look forward to it already. 8-)

Creating Storyworld #2

WOW.

I find myself at a place I've never been before. A new road to travel. A new mountain to climb.

After 5 or 6 years, I FINALLY finished my first novel a week or so ago. Now I am at long last giving myself permission to start Novel #2.

Giving myself permission, you may ask. What do you mean?

Writing a novel is a very long process. Longer still if you're squeezing it in between the day job and other responsibilities. Add to that perfectionism. THAT will make it take much longer. But I have finally reached a point where I can say "it's as done as I can make it right now."

Yes, even now the urge to keep tweaking it still moves in me. But I realize in my heart it's time to move on to Novel #2 to continue my writing training.

It is both exciting and scary. Exciting for the grand new adventure yet to begin. Scary because I've been living and breathing the same characters for a long time and now I must leave them behind, like friends you lose when you move across the country.

My biggest problem with novel #2 has been choosing which one to work on next. I have a hopper full of 10-12 novel concepts and I'm torn in many different directions. All action filled, about half are historical, half contemporary. And most feature a male protag, which is usually my preference.

But how to choose which one? I plan to spend some time brainstorming today on one particular novel concept that interests me.

My prayer for novel #2 is:

* That I lay out the detailed synopsis beforehand in a much better fashion than with novel #1

* That having gone through one novel, I am better at keeping the "big picture" concept in mind as I write.

* That I naturally see, and more easily see, how to tweak scene order for maximum effect

* That I finish this next one in just ONE year. That will be a biggie.

* That I carefully do my research, but not get so caught up in the excitement of learning that I run down too many rabbit trails

* That I prepare the pre-writing work carefully and once I start the first draft, I push and push until it is done, hopefully within 3-5 months (probably closer to 5 considering the highly stressful day job). The point is, NO lengthy breaks. Just nose to the grindstone and go--it will be better for me, better for the story flow.

* That I pray constantly, and not let self-doubt hold so much sway on novel #2.

In fact, that's what I pray for all of you who may be tackling your own writing projects.

Full steam ahead!