Writing is like eating cake

So, it's been about two months since I declared the right to call myself a "writer" (can I say declared the "write"?!?), and between the bouts of anxiety and laziness, it's been quite an interesting one.  

Being a "writer" is a bit like having my cake, eating it, but obsessively getting on the scale every hour for the next 3 days just to make sure I haven't done too much damage.  

Some thoughts:

1. Blogging is difficult.  Not only because of the classic "I don't know what to say" (because, let's be honest - when do I not know what to say?), but rather because there really is a fine line between aid and distraction.  I've set a goal for myself to write SOMETHING every day, and I've done a pretty good job at it.  I'm now trying to increase how many hours per day I spend writing, and there is just so much more to do on my novel than on my blog because my blog isn't even really a thing, yet.  I didn't want to get caught up in this until my book seemed to have taken better shape.. which leads me to number 2

2. I've finally started to answer the most fundamental and impossible questions in novel-writing: How on earth do you even get something like that started?  Every time I (and I assume anyone) tell someone that I've begun writing a book, 99% of the reaction that I get is "Oh wow I wouldn't even know how to begin!"  Arrogantly, first time writers like myself toss our heads and laugh at this pedestrian worry.  When you're born to be a writer, the novel just flows out!  It's all about following your calling!  Of course, the reality behind this facade is that we, too, are crumbling around ourselves and actually want to break down and be like WELL ME EITHER!  Saying that, of course, isn't an option, because who would be mad enough to start a journey unguided without even the smallest inkling of how to do it?  Writers.  Writers are mad enough to start huge projects with no idea of how to do them.  Some of the sagest advice I've gotten from many writers is that you really won't know how to write a novel until you've completed one.  This makes perfect sense.  Frustrating sense, but I do understand it.  So, that brings me to the point: I've finally worked out how to begin to shape the pages upon pages of writing into something that resembles a novel.  I've overcome the issue of back-editing handwritten story, and it's all about finding a process and letting it come.  Needless to say, while that isn't actually much information, I'm quite proud with this new step.  

3. I have successfully completed a short story, which a friend of mine, Tim Lawton, has published on his website, Spiders in a Jar, a website where he showcases his own work (which is fantastic) and has just begun to showcase the work of others.  I am pleased to say that my story is the first of what I hope will become many.  Go check it out!

More to come, hopefully in the form of both blog posts and stories.