Multi-Classing

Ok, let me just put it right out there up front:

I am totally feeling deficient as a writer. I’ve been working on a book since the turn of the year. Truth be told, a little bit before then, but I turned around and did a massive rewrite – yes, I know that’s not what you’re supposed to do, but trust me…it had to be done.

Here it is, Mid-April and I’m only 30k words and some change into the story.

You may recall that, previously, I’ve knocked out 26 thousand words in a month.

It just isn’t happening this time around.

And I’m kicking myself for it.

And that’s totally unfair.

Here’s why:

I’ve been dabbling with storytelling for a while, but I hadn’t really started taking it seriously before 2014.

Today being still the first part of 2018, this makes me a level 4 writer.

Compare that to being a level 47 human.

While I don’t remember it, I figure I was pretty much a pile of rubbish as a level 4 human. I suspect, in fact, that I am actually a better level 4 Writer than I was a level 4 human.

So, why in the world would I compare my level 4 writerness to the level 10, 15, or even level 20 writers that I know? It doesn’t do anyone (particularly me) the slightest bit of good to think that I should, somehow, be farther along than I am.

There is no power leveling in writing. I can’t visit a level 15 writer, get all buffed up, and camp stories in the Oubliette of Dangling Participles over and over again, tacking on a few levels over the course of a glorious pizza, and snack-filled weekend.

It doesn’t work like that and, I admit, that there have been days where I’ve struggled to remember exactly that.

So what can I do?

First, I need to remind myself that 4th level isn’t bad. You get some pretty nifty spells at 4th level. In fact, you’re just starting to get a taste of all of the coolness that the higher levels offer at 4th level.

I also need to remind myself that my time *Will* come if I keep at it. That’s all I have to do: Not stop. Some days that will be harder than others, and that’s ok. Maybe it won’t be at level 5, maybe it won’t even be at level 10, but if I keep going, If I keep learning, and studying, and honing my craft, I will get there.

And so can you.

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Be sure to stop by the Freebies page for story excerpts.

If you’ve stopped by and seen me this weekend at Ravencon, thank you so much for attending, and taking time out of your day to say hi.

 

Time: 8:57 Pm (This’ll post much earlier than that, but this is when I finished)

Music: Blind Guardian – Fly