Brandon's Author Journey: Mission Statement
May 3, 2020
I was around ten when I decided I wanted to be an author. I was twelve when I started writing my first two books. After five years, I had only managed to finish one of them and I had started several more. I had a problem of manuscript-hopping: I’d get really passionate about a project for a few months, write like crazy, and then get distracted by something new and shiny.
Why it took until my senior year of high school for me to be diagnosed with ADD, I’ll never understand.
I had finished one full manuscript by the end of my junior year when two friends gave me the most important push I’ve ever received. The first, named Jordon, told me that he refused to read any more of my work unless it was part of a finished draft. He liked the books, and couldn’t stand that I continually left him hanging.
The second push came from my friend Lawrence. He told me that I had to complete one of my novels, just to get it out of my system. I took his advice and decided that, no matter what, I would finish the manuscript I’d just started. It took over a year, but I finally finished The Third Persons, just in time for my friend Jordon to read it before leaving to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Without that deadline, I’m not sure how long it would have taken me.
That was in 2014. Fast forward to today: I’ve made some good progress, but not nearly as much as I want. A few weeks ago, while reading Brandon Sanderson’s "State of the Sanderson," I thought that maybe I could do something similar. "State of the Sanderson," for those of you who aren’t aware, is something Brandon S. does once a year, keeping his fans updated on the state of each of his writing projects.
Now, I’m aware that I’m not Brandon Sanderson, and I’m not banking on anybody reading this blog. Nobody is clamoring for me to do this. Nobody is begging for updates (except maybe my lovely wife.) But I think it’s a good opportunity for me to be accountable. So, I’m going to be updating this blog on my writing journey at least once per month, whether I have readers or not. (For the sake of my self-esteem, I’m going to pretend at least somebody is reading. Even if it’s just Skynet watching my every technological move.)
I’m hoping this will represent my next big push. The last time my writing habits were severely changed was seven years ago. I’m hoping this will represent the next grand evolution in my writing process. I intend to launch hard, with another blog post by the end of May going into more detail about my writing journey from 2007-Present Day. After that, I’ll write a post about my forecast for the rest of the year. At the end of May, I’ll write my first monthly post looking back on the month’s progress, and updating you guys on the goals for June.
Remember, it’s okay if you guys don’t read this. It’s okay if you guys do read this. This isn’t to feed my ego or pretend I’m all that. Basically, this is a journal detailing my journey towards (hopeful) publication, but you have access to it. And hey, if you ever want to gently haggle me for not reaching my goals, go for it. As I pointed out with my friend Jordon, I’m much more likely to finish my books when I feel like there’s somebody rooting for me to finish.
As I said at the beginning, I have a tendency to lose interest in projects, so this may not stick. If it isn’t helping, I’ll certainly ditch it. But I’ll promise to do at least one blog post a month until the end of 2020. There. It’s on the internet now. And nobody can lie on the internet.
Why it took until my senior year of high school for me to be diagnosed with ADD, I’ll never understand.
I had finished one full manuscript by the end of my junior year when two friends gave me the most important push I’ve ever received. The first, named Jordon, told me that he refused to read any more of my work unless it was part of a finished draft. He liked the books, and couldn’t stand that I continually left him hanging.
The second push came from my friend Lawrence. He told me that I had to complete one of my novels, just to get it out of my system. I took his advice and decided that, no matter what, I would finish the manuscript I’d just started. It took over a year, but I finally finished The Third Persons, just in time for my friend Jordon to read it before leaving to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Without that deadline, I’m not sure how long it would have taken me.
That was in 2014. Fast forward to today: I’ve made some good progress, but not nearly as much as I want. A few weeks ago, while reading Brandon Sanderson’s "State of the Sanderson," I thought that maybe I could do something similar. "State of the Sanderson," for those of you who aren’t aware, is something Brandon S. does once a year, keeping his fans updated on the state of each of his writing projects.
Now, I’m aware that I’m not Brandon Sanderson, and I’m not banking on anybody reading this blog. Nobody is clamoring for me to do this. Nobody is begging for updates (except maybe my lovely wife.) But I think it’s a good opportunity for me to be accountable. So, I’m going to be updating this blog on my writing journey at least once per month, whether I have readers or not. (For the sake of my self-esteem, I’m going to pretend at least somebody is reading. Even if it’s just Skynet watching my every technological move.)
I’m hoping this will represent my next big push. The last time my writing habits were severely changed was seven years ago. I’m hoping this will represent the next grand evolution in my writing process. I intend to launch hard, with another blog post by the end of May going into more detail about my writing journey from 2007-Present Day. After that, I’ll write a post about my forecast for the rest of the year. At the end of May, I’ll write my first monthly post looking back on the month’s progress, and updating you guys on the goals for June.
Remember, it’s okay if you guys don’t read this. It’s okay if you guys do read this. This isn’t to feed my ego or pretend I’m all that. Basically, this is a journal detailing my journey towards (hopeful) publication, but you have access to it. And hey, if you ever want to gently haggle me for not reaching my goals, go for it. As I pointed out with my friend Jordon, I’m much more likely to finish my books when I feel like there’s somebody rooting for me to finish.
As I said at the beginning, I have a tendency to lose interest in projects, so this may not stick. If it isn’t helping, I’ll certainly ditch it. But I’ll promise to do at least one blog post a month until the end of 2020. There. It’s on the internet now. And nobody can lie on the internet.