New Writer on the Writing Road

Hi, I’m Roxanne Sherwood, and I’m excited to be on this Writing Road with you. During our journey, we’re going to discuss various aspects of fiction writing. I’m not published yet, but I won the 2008 Touched by Love Contest and finaled in the 2007 Genesis Contest.

I’m the poster gal for proving that if I can complete a novel, then anyone can. It’s taken five years to write my book; but during that time, I’ve home schooled six children, relocated across country, had two pregnancies in my forties—one stillbirth, one healthy baby—graduated four teens from high school, and done all the other things that moms do. Now, I’m doing them as a single mom, since losing my husband, Jack, suddenly fifteen months ago. If you’ve lost count, I have seven children, ages 21 to 2, who all live at home.

Free to Fail.

Oddly, I only began writing my novel after I gave myself the freedom to fail. As the mom of a big family, I don’t have much free time. (Case in point: 22 loads of laundry each week.) Was it fair to write, when I couldn’t guarantee that I’d ever be published? Wouldn’t I be wasting time that could be better spent in a hundred other ways?

Though moms say we’re on call 24/7, we do have down time to pursue hobbies, relax with friends, watch movies, chat on the phone, or exercise. (Okay, I added that last one because I should, not because I always do).

I decided that if I was going to read anyone’s book, it was going to be mine. If my novel never gets published, the hours spent weren’t wasted because I’ve enjoyed the writing journey immensely and I’ve learned a skill. So I’ve already accomplished more than if I wasted those hours watching television. Once it was okay to write, even if I failed to publish, I paved the way to succeed. And you can too.

~Roxanne~

Next week: Free to Succeed.