The idea for Slow Motion Whirlwind was actually brought on by my finding wattpad. A friend of mine showed me the site because he knows I have been attempting to write my novel for several years and love to procrastinate with reading. I went to check it out and really wanted to give writing there a try. So, I got my tea, sat down at my computer, opened my document editor of choice (it’s Google Docs. . . I love Google Docs) and started writing a story. I wrote down what came into my brain for the first chapter and thus, the story was born.
I had no idea when I started exactly where it would go. I knew I wanted it to be a somewhat fluffy teen book about a girl making choices in her relationships and I knew I wanted to discuss the life of someone who always wanted to do one thing and, at least for a little while, cannot do it anymore. But besides that, I had a first chapter and that was it.
At this point, a completely level headed person would have said, “okay, I have one chapter of a book and no discernible plan for the rest of it, let’s take some time to figure that out before I show this to anyone.”
That is not what I did.
Instead, with no second chapter even in the works, I posted my story up to the site and promised to publish two chapters a week in an attempt to keep me writing until I finished. As it turns out, I did not need that push, because I finished the whole thing in less than three weeks. Well, I finished the first draft. As you will find out if you read further, the editing is going to take a fair bit longer.
I guess you could say that, in a way, this story wrote itself. When I finished the novel, I didn’t really know what I was supposed to be feeling. It was sort of an “okay, I did that. Now can I do it again?” feeling. I’m not sure if that’s how finishing your first draft of your first novel is supposed to feel, but for me that’s all that happened.
Have you ever had an idea for a story that just took on a mind of its own? If you have written or created something artistic before, were you proud of your first completed work or did you wish you could sweep it under the proverbial rug?
Check out more posts about Slow Motion Whirlwind or click for details on my works in progress.
Eliza Solares 