Just about every response to my Champagne wishes and caviar dreams post yesterday at Killer Chicks made me smile. I’m glad I’m not the only one who dreams big. Because really, what’s wrong with wanting it all? What’s wrong with imagining the impossible? What’s wrong with putting just a little bit of that creative energy – the same energy that fuels our work – into allowing ourselves to imagine What If?
It was two years and three months ago (August 2008) when I was staring at the first 10,000 words of my story. I was overwhelmed. I had a million ideas and wasn’t sure I could pull it off… but what if I could? What if I actually finished this story? Five months later, I had a completed first draft.
Then I dreamed of having a polished manuscript. How great would it be to have a book that was finished All The Way? What if I could have a version of this novel with no typos, no messy plot lines, and decent character development? Even if it never got published, what a tremendous accomplishment it would be to have written, revised and polished a novel. Six revisions and ten months later, I had a clean manuscript.
And then I thought, I don’t think this book completely sucks. In fact, what if it’s actually pretty good? Maybe if I query it, I’ll get an agent. Three months later, I got The Call.
And even though I knew what the odds were of this novel selling, I thought, what if it does sell? What if, despite the crappy economy, despite my agent’s warnings that fiction is a tough market, and despite being an unknown, a publisher actually wants to buy it? So I allowed myself to imagine it. I imagined getting a call from my agent telling me I was getting published. I imagined myself as a debut novelist.
And guess what… that happened, too.
I think we should always dream big. We might never get the mansion and the personal cabana boy and Angelina Jolie on speed dial, but it’s cool to dream about it. Because even if that dream never materializes, what does happen is usually more than good enough.
I dream about my books too. It's what gets you through all those revisions. Me, I want to be Johnny Depp in that movie THE TOURIST who gets picked up by Angelina Jolie (for nefarious purposes, of course.) LOL
That is an inspirational story, Jennifer. Some of it sounds so much like my own experience. Once I'd got over the shock of the first few chapters it took me six months to finish the first draft. And what an accomplishment that was to me!
OK, I'm lagging a few steps behind, but still hanging in there, and this kind of tale gives me hope. Thanks for the post!
Hell, Roland, *I* want to be Johnny Depp in that movie! LOL
Thanks, Botanist, and hang in there! Your turn will come.
This is such an inspiring post! Love it! I'm all for dreaming big & going for it. Congrats on your dreams materializing! 🙂
Couldn't agree more. It's good to have a realistic lay of the land, but it's great to also aim for the stars. Can't stand when bitter authors or folks who just want to dress up the challenge to make themselves look more special try to squash people's dreams.
Beautiful. Love it. It really is nice to know how long it took to get a polished MS from a real author. It makes me feel better anyway ha! Thanks so much for this uplifting post!
It's so nice to meet you Jennifer! And I love reading about your dreams and how they happened. It is an encouragement to us all. I love to read this kind of book and look forward to seeing it come out.
I also see you are from the Norhwest. My daughter lives in Bothell and I am headed to Spokane to speak in March. Brrr.
Hi Jennifer! Thanks for stopping by my blog, and I enjoyed this post. I had to go back and read The Call post too, and your book acceptance announcement. Exciting stuff! If I ever get to that point (dream big!) of a call, I'm sure I'd be shrilly too. LOL
If your gonna dream it should be crazy big. I mean why not. Thanks for posting your journey to date.
Thank you for this reminder that if we dream big and keep at it, we end up getting just what we need. That is what it's all about after all! Thank you so much for this post.
Dreaming is important! No matter how far-out it might seem . . . it's intrinsic to actually accomplishing anything.
I think your blog probably provides hope to others who are stil waiting for their dreams to come true. Keep it up!
Always worth dreaming big! And congratulations 🙂 I just found your blog via your comment on SlamDunks – yep, NaNo seems to be a verb now, I'm going to be NaNoing later this evening!
Yay for dreaming!
It's not always easy for me to be a positive person, but I've really been working on it lately, and I think there's something to be said for having big dreams and believing that they might just work out.
Dream big…and shoot for that dream. At worst, you'll find along the way that you really love writing and there's nothing you'd rather do. At best, every dream you have will come true, and then some! Either way, you WIN!
Dreams rock. They seem very, very far away at times, but it is huge fun to imagine what could be. I seriously think I'd die and go to heaven if I saw a random stranger reading my book. I would, however, have to stalk them first (to make sure they were reacting appropriately, of course). NO YAWNING ALLOWED.
Totally…and now I'm wondering who I'd like on speed dial…hmmm….
This a wonderful post, so positive and inspiring. Glad to know your dreams have come true!