And so it began...

I want to document my journey from being an unpublished author to hopefully someday being a published one. That is what this blog and my Twitter (@TperiodKyle) is going to accomplish.

My book started last month when I decided to try NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time. It is an event billed as "thirty days and nights of literary abandon!" The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in the 30 short days in November. I have considered doing it the past few years, but never took the time to do it.

I did not want to fail, so I didn't start. But this year, I did it. In October, I made a brief plan, came up with an idea and became determined to do it. I got up early everyday and wrote before work. This is my first major writing project outside of school. I found it easy. The words, the characters, the stories, they flowed out of me with little trouble. By the 29th of the month, I was finished with my debut novel, Woodrow.

Completing the first draft of my novel is the first step in a long journey. I now have to edit over and over again; immerse myself in the literary and publishing world; relentlessly promote myself and try to make a name for myself; and keep writing.

I can do this.