In mid-May, Steven Pressfield wrote a rather interesting post titled "Warriors and Mothers."
I highly suggest reading it first before we go on.
Done?
Okay, let's go.
In this post, Pressfield talks about what sacrifices mothers make when they're pregnant. Typically, they may stay more at home while others seem to be out and about all the time--or, at least, they give that perception.
This got me thinking of my college years at Bemidji State University. I wrote (and finished) my first novel while in college. There were many nights where I was up until two or three in the morning, hunched over my Brother word processor, cranking out page after page. Now, this novel (which as yet may or may not see the light of day) was just over 1,000 pages when I was done. Yes, you heard correctly. 1,000 pages. And, with roughly 250-350 words on a page, depending the amount of "white space," this horror novel was . . . yes, 250,000 to 350,000 words. A quarter-million word horror novel. When I hear that most nowadays are around 75,000, this one was incredibly long.
But I still worked at it.
I learned how to write.
And finish.
I made sacrifices. When I had friends who were going out to the bars 3-4 nights a week and were involved in multiple activities, I limited my activities outside my little dorm and worked on my art. But the friends who were truly friends knew what I was doing, and encouraged me to do it.
As a side note, the second novel I ever wrote and finished was also of the horror genre, and I will guess to be close to 400,000 words. This one may see the light of day in a year or so as I am considering breaking it up into a short series (probably 4-5 books). But, more on that at a future date and time . . .
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