I wrote a portion of this blog in 2017. It outlined my intentions for my new hobby. I started writing because I was concerned I’d have too much time on my hands. I had retired from my “real job” in 2008 and was well into a consultant gig I knew wouldn’t last forever. Writing seemed a natural choice as I’ve listened to and told stories all my life.
I’ve thought about writing for a very long time but thinking and doing are two different things.
When I graduated from high school, I wasn’t good at thanking people for my graduation gifts, so my mom gave me a ditto master, (Most of you don’t know what that is, but it was two giant leaps before the copy machine.), so I could write “one big thank you” for everyone. My mom passed a few years ago, and I found one of those thank yous. I had written it to my grandfather – my mom’s dad.
I mentioned three potential career paths in the thank you – attorney, followed by a run for the United States Senate (no joke) and ultimately – become a writer.
I started writing my first book in 2016, a full 46 years after that graduation thank you. I didn’t get very far. What was once going to be my first book, is becoming my blog. Hopefully, my blog will become my book.
The writing advice I received most often was write what you know. I know my life, and those who have influenced me, so that’s been the center of my work. A couple of weeks ago I joined a group of memoire writers. It’s a group of people who write about their life. They’re very nice and each has a passion for their work. They write simple stories about who they are and the moments that impacted them. Each member of the group has an opportunity to read a story aloud to the other members. After the reading, the listeners are invited to provide feedback. So far, all the feedback has been very positive.
One of the reasons I joined the group was to learn about self-publishing. One of the men I met has done so. He shared his process and the website he used to accomplish his goal. His simple piece of advice was “just do it”.
My challenge has always been, what stories should I publish? I’ve arranged my writings into categories: Random Thoughts, Career Choices, Childhood Memories, Family, Life Lessons, and more recently, Ruth, and In Her Own Words. Should I publish my book in categories or in the order I wrote them? My first blogs were filled with errors, so I better go back and correct everything before I send it in. I thought it should be perfect.
Will my book be too long, or worse, too short? How many pages will it be? My time was consumed with the how. I never considered the “just do it” approach.
Last week, I just did it. It’s never going to be seen by anyone but my family, but that’s who I started this whole thing for, so that will work out well. If I like what I see, I’ll publish the rest in the same format.
This first book is a compilation of the stories from 2022. It starts with entering the year and ends with this past Christmas. It was a heck of a run, a memorable year.