This is a Very Big Step...

So, I am posting a first draft version of the very beginning of my novel. I'm pretty nervous about doing this, because I am usually very private about what I write. But I created this public blog for a reason, so here it goes....

Prologue:
I could only think of him. His face, his words, his actions all blurred together in my mind. I watched the torrential downpour from my window and tried to escape, but it only made it worse. I knew he was sitting alone in his lowly shack, listening to the rain pour relentlessly onto his roof, and watching helplessly as it continued to seep inside. I did not belong here. My place was in his arms and my heart could never be whole, knowing that I would never be there again.

Chapter One:
The hallway was dark, except for a flickering light at the end. My feet barely made a sound as I stealthily crept towards the light. Dangerous as it was, I had no choice but to go this way, as there was no other path out of the house at this time of night.
A sudden, loud cough echoed through the the entire first floor, sending a hot flash of anxiety through my body. A chair creaked and the thud of a man’s feet sounded closer and closer to the hallway in which I was fearfully residing in. The cold, calculating face of a violent man appeared in the doorway, his venomous eyes piercing into the darkness, looking for an excuse to assert his power, whether it be towards an intruder or a family member.
Seeing that there was no one, he stomped back into the other room, leaving me to take a quiet, but deep breath of relief. As I silently made my way to the front door, I gently rubbed the sore spot on my upper arm, knowing full well what would have happened if my uncle had caught me sneaking out of the house.
The night air instantly chilled my skin, but its presence signaled my long sought after freedom. The silent, swaying trees were my refuge, and like silent guardians, they embraced me, keeping my body secret from those who would not approve of my late night tryst.
After a few exhilarating and slightly frightening moments, I saw the warm lights of a house so familiar and comforting to me. Careful to keep my cloak securely over my face, I ran towards the humble cottage, my heart singing in excitement as it thudded in my chest.
I did not even have to knock.
“Daniel,” I whispered breathlessly.
“My sweet Lizzy.” He smiled before embracing me so tenderly, it was as if no time had passed since we had last seen each other.
“How was your journey?” I asked as we both settled in.
“Fine, once I actually set off, but getting to that point was quite the task. My parents did not want me to leave at all.”
“They miss you, I suppose.”
“Ah, if only their intentions were that pure. My father does not think it is wise of me to move away from the family, when they have moved to a place far more thriving than here. My mother told me it was pure foolishness to live in this crumbling cottage.”
“I love this home, though, no matter what state of decay it is in. This is where I grew up, where I had so many fun memories of us.”
“Well, despite what your parents say, I am so happy you came back. I was very sad when you left and I remained that way until I got your letter, informing me of your return.”
“Imagine how much sorrow I had, knowing I had to leave you. Now that I am here though, I never want to be separated from you again.”
Smiling, he placed his hand on mine, tendering caressing my fingers with his. Nervously, he moved closer to me, and carefully brought his lips to mine, giving me the kiss I had so longed for since his departure.
“I will be with you always,” I breathlessly murmured.

I Cannot Believe I Have Come to This Point

Feeling incredibly inspired, I began to write the end of the scene where my main character, Elizabeth, gives birth to her first child. I merely meant to tie up loose ends on this plot line and I realized that I was actually ending the book. This is honestly something that I did not know how I was going to do. Ever since I started this book, I pondered how and when I could end this book, and if I could make the ending satisfying for my potential readers, while making them thirst for more at the same time. I think I have done it and completely by accident as well. I actually started crying when I realized what I was doing because I was writing the end of something that I had labored over for so many years. I still have a tremendous amount of work to do, massively editing parts I have already written and began writing parts that I have yet to write. However, to know that I have created an ending has given me strength to continue to work on the unfinished parts. This is so spectacular :)

You Know You're on a Roll When....

....you realize that, even though it's getting late, you have to finish a particular scene in the book because you have become so emotionally involved in it that you couldn't possibly put off finishing the first draft until the next day.

I started off slow tonight when it came to my writing. I couldn't quite figure out which part to write and I was giving up all hopes of writing something decent in this very early morning, until I found something that I really wanted to write. I went along with this and as my eyelids started getting heavier and my yawns became more frequent, I realized that I had to forgo sleep in that particular moment in order to keep writing. It felt great :)

Taking a Break

Every so often, I have to take a step away from the novel and work on other small writing projects. I do this so that I can explore other plots, settings, and characters, while also connecting these new thoughts to my novel. An example of this is when I develop the main female character in each of these new stories (mostly in first person). Each of them have the main characteristic of being strong women, with the strength varying from character to character. Each of them have different reasons for being strong and different obstacles that test their strength. By writing about them, it allows me to gauge if I should make Elizabeth, the main first person female in my novel, more or less strong in different parts of the book. Additionally, writing other stories keeps me from going insane when I get severely frustrating writing my novel.

The Tudors

As any writer would know, sometimes it's hard to get enough inspiration to write something, especially something decent. When I run into this extremely frustrating roadblock, I turn to my faithful friend, The Tudors. All I need to do is watch one episode of this amazing show and I am set. I can immediately turn to my novel and pound out a couple amazing pages that I am happy with. I think one of the main reasons this works is because the Tudors gives me a visual to my story. Of course, all my plots are visible in my mind, but to actually see them, in a way, on the screen is the perfect antidote to lack of inspiration.

The Easy Parts

I've recently started writing in my novel again, after taking a break from it to finish up my spring quarter. It's always difficult to pick up where I've left off, especially if a long time has gone by since I last wrote. This is problematic because I end up needlessly editing small parts or writing new parts of the book that are the easiest to write. I know that most of this work is beneficial towards the completion of my novel in some way, but it sidetracks me from getting some real, substantial work done. I need to really buckle down and focus on writing every night, so that I run out of the easy things to write and am forced to move through the difficult parts in the book. I need to concentrate on the parts of my book that require outside research, or that require other major plot lines to be changed or rearranged. Fortunately, I have all summer vacation to do this :]