They say a journey starts with...

They say a journey starts with all kinds of things, so I'm starting this one with a blog.

It's funny because I don't like saying to people "I'm a writer", since I haven't published anything really official yet. I mean, I will be getting my diploma this month for my MFA in script and screenwriting, but I don't feel like that makes me a writer, if that makes any sense? Like I still feel like a Padawan writer. Maybe years from now with a thousand screenplays under my belt or a few novels in my hat, and having defeated several Sith minions. My MFA portfolio is getting published at my school's library, if that counts? Or the endless hours lost roaming the interwebs, leaving comments in hopes that somewhere, someone will take a look at it and say, "Hey, you know what? I agree with that statement. I'm gonna click 'like'!" (Though unfortunately they don't like it enough to comment and further elaborate, but I digress.)

I like to write. Does that make me a writer? I've been writing since I was a kiddler, and even if I never got paid for it, I'm still going to write. I can't stop making stuff up. Characters come much easier than stories, though I can't have characters without my stories. And if someone comes along and says, "Hey, you know that character? Let's talk about him/her," they will have just made my year. Probably decade.

I'm up to 90,000 ish words on my first novel, and I'm in the revising stage of what I'd like to call my 'final' first draft. (I.e, I've been writing this story forever, but I finally settled on the version I want to tell). It's like pulling teeth, and I feel like a hack, but I'm trudging along.

Trudging...so...very...hard.

Especially since I want it done NOW. That terrible little impatient voice in the back of my head going "Wut are you doing on the intarwebs? GET WRITING!"

Huh. I should probably listen to it right now.

Well, that was a long-winded-rambling-stream-of-consciousness way of saying: I hope you will enjoy my random musings and hopefully a few tips on what I've learned about writing!