Writing

Even from a very young age, I had the dream of writing a novel and publishing it.  Since elementary school I've written stories.  My teachers always lauded me for my creativity and desire for using simple spelling words and weaving them into a story.  It seemed that they derived some pleasure from my little stories.

Unfortunately, those little stories were the only ones I ever finished.  As I learned to use the computer and type up stories I would be struck with inspiration that would lead me to spend most of my free time writing.  Then in the midst of one idea I would catch hold of another one and abandon the first.  This was the cycle with which I have struggled with for many years.  6 years ago I began a rather epic story and I stuck with it for quite some time and whenever I'd have another idea surface I'd stop writing altogether in the hopes that it would go away.  Sadly, this is the reason I haven't written anything in the last 3 years.

I have had many inspiring thoughts to begin anew with my writings, but I am almost fearful of being doomed to repeat the cycle.  I do not want to invest myself in the characters and then throw them by the wayside because another interesting thought or idea comes along.

So now, I am left with a burning passion to write and a great fear of failing in doing so.  What should I do, I wonder?  I have decided that it would be better to fail in doing so than to not do so at all.  There have been people in my past who have read my work and demanded me write more because they had to find out what happened next.  There have been those critics that have basically told me my writing is crap and my form is all wrong.  Clearly there is something for me to be done.  I can basically thrill and put off people with my work.  It's actually a rather amusing thought.

I begin then with something new.  I will walk the path towards my dream.  

Vision without action is just a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. --Joel Barker