The real reason I went from writer who writes to writer who publishes is Nanowrimo. [About Cat Hartliebe]
A group of people decided anyone could write a novel. Everyone has a novel inside them. Perhaps your novel isn’t To Kill a Mockingbird or Harry Potter, but you’re novel still matters. And it matters to the most important person in your life: you.
I write a lot. Since I started writing, I’ve made poems, short stories, novellas, and novels. Few have been edited fully <as you can see by my published work>. I write romance, fantasy, adventure, turning of age and acceptance. Sometimes all in one. I love writing happily ever after. That probably has to do with my life never being a happily ever after.
Nanowrimo is not the reason I started writing. The reason I started writing was because I love books. The reason I started writing is because my mom would write these beautiful notes in cursive and I tried to copy. <She called them pretty pictures.> Nanowrimo is the reason I decided my work is good enough to present to the world. Nanowrimo is the reason I can call myself an author. It gave me the push I needed. I already had the skills for writing and over the last few years I’ve added skills for publishing.
If this was two decades ago, I would not have been able to self publish. I would have had to annoy publishers until I was accepted. Fighting depression while fighting rejection kept me hidden. I could’ve even back then pushed out my writing to young writer’s groups. I didn’t. I fought that very idea no matter what my teachers said. So I skipped the rejection letters and self published.
All thanks to the push from Nanowrimo. <I didn’t understand self publishing until Nanowrimo groups.>
I made writer friends who I could help push to write their own stories while have someone push me forward on my task. Thanks to the real people I met in Nanowrimo and the organization itself, I went from writer to author.
Thank you, Nanowrimo.org
So, why am I making this big blog post now instead of in October? Nanowrimo is for the month of November. Many don’t know this, but Nanowrimo is once a year and Camp Nanowrimo is twice a year. Set your own goals and aim for them. I’m starting off aiming for 50k in April, but I’ll probably bring it down to 30k since I’m not sure of my story and I’m editing Love or Die. If you wish to join me visit campnanowrimo.org or nanowrimo.org The company you’ll meet is great. It changed my pace and direction. It could be your turning point too.
[About Cat Hartliebe] [Cat Hartliebe’s Books]
Cat Hartliebe 