Saturday, July 9, 2022

MY WRITING JOURNEY by Sheryl Jordan

People often ask me how long it takes to write my stories. My response is it varies. It took me four years to finish my first novel. While it takes me anywhere from two weeks to three months to draft my short stories.

There are many things that impact my writing. When I started my novel, I had no idea how to even begin. I just started telling the story. I wrote and wrote. Then one day my vision went from being 20/20 to severely blurred, then the darkness came. I couldn’t see anything clearly. I wasn’t completely blind, but everything around me was so dark. It was a scary time in which my life changed. I couldn’t write for months, amongst doing other tasks I considered normal everyday things such as cooking a meal or driving to the store. My vision returned two months later as mysteriously as it had diminished. Thanking God every day for the return of my sight, this was an extreme setback as I had to catch up on life and get back to doing things as I did prior to my vision depletion.

Another setback came two years later. I had completed my story and was working on edits. Many rounds of edits were involved. I was on my third round of edits when I had a surgical procedure that was supposed to take four weeks to recuperate. The four weeks tuned into three months in which I was extremely tired and could barely function.

I say this because life and circumstances happen all the time which can determine how long it takes to complete your work. A few things I have learned as my journey takes me to write short stories and other works are to write every day as much as possible. If you don’t write your story won’t come to fruition. Also, read! I write because I read. I read because I write!

Also, join good writer’s groups. It is so important to build relationships with other writers to share knowledge and learn from their writing experiences. We hold each other accountable to write and trust each other for editing our stories. Attending book signings together is a plus and so much fun!

The length of time it takes to complete my stories depends on many factors. A few that I have experienced are:

·     Deadlines – whether set by a publisher, writers’ group, or self-set. I tend to write more when I have set deadlines.

·   Dedication to writing – how often are you writing? Where is writing on your list of priorities? I learned that writing must be one of my top priorities or else I will procrastinate.

·     Work-Life balances – Does work or life get in the way of writing? I work in an incredibly stressful and demanding job. Sometimes I am just too exhausted to write after a long day’s work. I don’t beat myself up about this, I just find time to write on another day of the week or weekend.

I have challenged myself to do more with my writing habits and push myself outside of my comfort zone as much as possible. Whether you are an author or are considering writing, what has gotten in your way of writing? How long does it take you to complete your stories?

14 comments:

Jayne Ormerod said...

What an inspirational story for both writing and life. Thanks for sharing! The one thing that has gotten in the way of my writing is mahjongg. I play online and in person. It's supposed to keep my brain healthy, but it does interfere with my daily writing goals.

Teresa Inge said...

Great inspirational post! I love following your writing career and being a part of signing books with you! One thing I do to meet writing goals is to allot seat time to write. As writers, we have to find time to just sit down and write. Work/family/writing life can be challenging. But it takes me about a month to complete a short story and a couple of months to write a novella.

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thanks Jayne! I play Number Match sometimes. Games are good for brain health, but for me, they do consume a lot time as I would play for hours and not even realize how long I had been playing!

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thanks Teresa! I love signing books with you! You and the other authors we work have inspired me to step up my writing life. That's a good time line. I know the balance can be rough sometimes!

Michael Rigg said...

I hesitate to comment because whatever I say won't do justice to what you've suffered, persevered, and prospered. Your story is an inspiration. Thank you for allowing me to walk the proverbial mile in your shoes.

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thank you Michael! I am glad my story inspires you! I am working on a novella to tell the full story of what I went through at that time. 😉

Anonymous said...

You have a lot of good tips for writers—your story puts my excuses to shame! Yvonne Saxon

Anonymous said...

Wonderful post, Sheryl! I love it when you say, "Don't beat yourself up." That's what I've been doing recently and I'm going to stop. Thank you.

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thank you Yvonne! No shame, just keep pushing pushing! We got this!

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thank you! That's great you are going to stop beating yourself up! Keep moving forward! Write! 😆

Max Jason Peterson said...

Sheryl, my heart goes out to you with your struggles--losing your vision must have been so incredibly scary and tragic. I am so glad you persevered and so grateful you are willing to share your story. This really puts things in perspective. Also, what you say about being exhausted after work is so true. When this happens I remind myself about the premise of The Weekend Novelist. One can still make progress even by increments. Sometimes the only time I might have to write is ten minutes on a rare break at work. That is still helpful... Anyway, thanks so much for the inspiration and drive!

Sheryl Jordan said...

Thank you Adele. I consider myself a "Weekend Novelist" also. We write when we can! Write on!

Kim Thorn said...

Whoa! Such a powerful post Sheryl! You packed a big, fantastic wallop in that one! Thank you for revealing that the writer live isn't all lights, camera, action! It can get down. It can get tough. The inspiration can dry up. But you persevered and I'm glad you did! I'm glad I got to know you and I'm glad you found your light! Awesome story! Keeping writing, keep shining, brilliant lady!

Kim Thorn said...

writer life

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