The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

Narrative & Memoir 71 yet. I mean, speaking to a real publisher? Talk about intimidating! Someday, yes. Until then, I must keep writing and polishing and dreaming. During the time I was beginning to realize that excellent writing is not easy to achieve, I made a decision that proved just that. A couple of years ago, I decided to try to write a book in a month with a program called NANOWRIMO (National Novel Writing Month). A friend of mine had done it, and, having completed her book, told me about it. If you could write your book in the month of November, they would award you five free copies of your book. I already had an idea, and proceeded to write out a basic plotline. I wanted to have a crystal clear idea of where I was going with the story before I started writing, because I wouldn’t have the leisure of sitting around waiting for an idea to come to me. When November started, I started writing. I found that I had not planned as well as I should have. Almost immediately I was stuck. After taking the story one way, I retraced my steps and rewrote it. Mom read each portion as I finished it, commenting, advising, and critiquing. As the month progressed, I ran into several other dilemmas. It was stressful to not have any ideas. I had a deadline! In truth, there was nothing holding me to that deadline. I had no obligation to finish writing by November 30. The only thing that kept me going—and I believe this was the objective of the program—was my determination and unwillingness to give up. Could I persevere through thick and thin, trials, tribulations, and writer’s block? The test had begun. The thought that I might not finish it, might not meet my goal, might give up—was unbearable to me. How could I look back in five, ten, fifteen years and know that I had given up? I dreaded that regret. So, I wrote. I wrote whenever I could—after school, on weekends, when I was supposed to be doing school. I took my manuscript with me when our family went to my grandparents’ for Thanksgiving and tried to work on it there. Although I didn’t accomplish much writing that week, one of my cousins did come up with a name for my villain. In that regard, it was a profitable week. I had to write down until the very last day, but I was able to finish the book. With a huge sigh of relief, I submitted my draft. I had not only exceeded my word-count goal, but also succeeded in finishing my novel. The next step was designing the cover and