Writing possesses the ability to kidnap a reader's mind and hold them hostage in a fictitious dimension. Books is a multi-billion dollar industry that varies from educational material to fictional material to religious material. Millions of authors exist today who have written/published one or more pieces of material. Through hard work, commitment and dedication, I am a member of this special category.
On a cold rainy night in June 2019, I was in bed researching online business ventures on my laptop. Entrepreneurship has always been in my blood as well as the thirst for success and independence. A few hours into my research, I fell asleep with my notebook on my lap which is still powered on. Based on the time I nodded off, more or less, and the time I woke up, I dreamt about being in a fictional dimension or a different realm. This motivated me to write a fiction novel. As a high school student, I've always been good at essay writing and I always dreamt of publishing a novel one day. I never thought I'd dream about the actual story that is published today.
When I woke up from my nap at four in the morning, I shut down my notebook and went back to sleep with only one thought on my mind - the time is now! Several hours later, the rain greatly intensified with confidence aligned with my motivation to start writing. Of course, my research from online business ideas was cut short due to the new research that I needed to engage in - a guide to writing a fiction novel. I spent one week reading articles on blogs and watching videos on YouTube to prepare me for my journey ahead.
My criteria for completion of this novel was approximately 70 000 words and 25 chapters. This I accomplished after ten months of writing. However, it wasn't a walk in the park. At times I felt like giving up as I occasionally experienced tremendous writer's block. The longest I suffered from this was for two months. At this point, three-quarters of my book was already completed. During these two months, I spent lots of time with my family and friends, doing outdoor activities and parties. Because of this, my mind visited reality for a while to get some fresh air before I head back to my imaginary world. Sixty days of reality is the reason I managed to successfully publish my first novel. I invested in others by listening to their life stories and experiences. For me, this was a return on investment.
The two main tools I used were Google Drive and Grammarly. The beauty of working on the cloud is that it enabled me to continue writing regardless of what device I use and no matter the location I'm in. Nearly half of my novel was written on my smartphone. Unfortunately, the strain it put on my fingers was unimaginable but, the willingness to tell my story overpowered the prevailing circumstances. I enjoyed using Grammarly as my editor and, today I am still using it. Synonyms and grammatical errors are seamlessly highlighted by the program. If you hover your cursor over a word, a list of synonyms for that specific word will pop up. Isn't that cool hey?
There were days when I had no shut-eye for approximately two days because of how inspired I was with new ideas. Regardless of my fatigue, sleep had to wait. Documenting my thoughts was more important than anything or anyone else. Eventually, I was forced to take a two-week break from writing. This time, my eyesight suffered an immense strain. I was constantly rubbing and wiping my eyes to the point where I couldn't face any LCD device. I had one of two choices available to me - continue writing with the aid of using eye drops or take a break. Hence, I chose the latter. My body was already swimming in a pool of caffeine.
The two-week break was well spent by engaging in exercising and once again, spending time with my family and friends. Thereafter, my writing resumed effortlessly which allowed me to complete my novel. Bear in mind, upon completion, I didn't have a name nor a front cover for my novel. This has always been secondary to me. The story will determine the name and cover - which it did. Writing a novel based on the name and cover will ultimately drift away from the crux of the intended story when I had the golden dream. As soon as I wrote inserted the final full stop of the final chapter, I got up from my desk and shed a tear out of happiness.
I wrote my first fiction novel!
My parents and my brother were extremely over the moon and blown away that I accomplished this great task and goal. Unfortunately, the hard work is yet to begin - editing! Fortunately, thanks to Grammarly, the duration of my editing was roughly three weeks. Within this time, I decided on a name as well as designing my cover using Gimp on Ubuntu Linux. My novel is ready to be published on Amazon. Three months after publishing, I expanded to various online book stores such as Google Books, Barnes, and Noble, Scribd and Walmart, etc. The magnificence of publishing on Smashwords is that it lets you, with your permission, expand your publishing to more than six different online book stores. Several days after my expansion, my book can now easily be found on Google.
Britton Bohnson and the Offsprings Blood by Lester February
Below is an extract to give you a glimpse of what you can expect in Britton Bohnsons' journey:
If a Nephrite is apprehended by the Hawks, Lexars law enforcement, and special task force agency, in possession of a chessboard, they are then forced to compete in the death chess duel against a Jadeite.
A Nephrite will be sentenced to a publicly broadcasted execution if they lose the contest. The Jadeite contender is chosen by anonymous voting from the Sovereign clans, the omnipotent rulers of Lexar. However, if a Nephrite wins the encounter, they are set free and pardoned for their offense.
The duel takes place in Arena Da Lexar, the humongous coliseum of Lexar, which all of the seven cities including the seven Sovereign clans are required to attend. In Lexar’s history of existence, the duel between a Jadeite and a Nephrite only transpired once - which the Jadeite won.
To write a novel is free. But, to advertise (very important) will cost you. I spent quite a handsome amount of money advertising on Facebook and Instagram. In my opinion, they are the best platforms to advertise on. It allows you to choose the duration of the ad you want to run, the location, and the amount you're willing to spend. Or, you can choose the more expensive option that will guarantee results - making use of an influencer. If you feel like you ready to write a novel, let your imagination run wild and go for it. If I can do it, so can you!
Don't strive to become the next J.K Rowling but strive to become the next you.
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