I think back to the day Mari was in the hospital and I told someone whether Mari made it or if she passed I was thinking about writing a book about her life. I’m not exactly sure why I would’ve thought to do something like this as I definitely didn’t believe I was a writer.
After she passed and a little time went by, I decided to write a book about her life. The only drawback is I had no idea what I was doing. My husband tried to help me with editing it the best he could. His main comment was it read more like an outline than bringing our daughter’s story to life.
As time continued to move forward I realized through other people’s comments and feedback that the nonfiction book I had written about her was all wrong. I learned I needed to add fiction elements to the story. The only problem is I had no idea how to do this or even what fiction elements were.
Then one day I had an idea come to me about writing a fiction novel while I was making my bed one morning. Again, I had no clue what I was doing. That first night I sat down and wrote about my new story idea. I’d write and then read it out loud so my husband could hear it. He helped me to show more details than just tell it. He isn’t a writer but he was going off his own experience of reading novels by authors like Stephen King and Dean Koontz. He knew what drew him in and tried to help me do the same thing.
What’s amazing now is that that first chapter has changed quite a bit from where it was before. It has become so much better. That shows me I’ve grown as a writer. It means I’m improving. I think that’s all anyone can ask of themselves. Keep trying and trying and you will slowly but surely improve.
