Finishing What He Started

My late grandfather was an editor's choice award winner three times. He wrote songs, short stories, and children's books. I even heard of a screenplay for a TV show that he never showed anyone. He was a child at heart and always knew how to reach children with his words. Imagine the lessons we got as kids, not to mention the bedtime stories and games we played together. He was always so animated and got into it with his outfits. We had a lot of fun growing up because of him.

Last year, I got the call that he had passed and I needed to come say goodbye. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I didn't spend enough time with him in the end. Seeing him laying there lifeless sparked something in me, the need to finish what he started and finally write my first book, in his honor. This story is too good to keep to myself. So I started a book. Or I'm finishing a book rather.

When I started, I thought, "Oh, this will be a breeze." I did my research on the subject. I sat down and made an outline of what I think is a great story. So I've got everything ready to and I sit down and start writing. I get through the first chapter and I stop to do the description of the world I'm trying to build. I draw some doodles, come up with a name. I even made a little sketch for the cover.

As I sit down to write, I feel confident and ready to finish the book. I get through the first chapter. I lost the vision I had in my head of what I wanted the story to be so, I took a break from it for months. Life on the ranch got busy. When I got back to it, I realized I had so many more ideas to have in and I freight-trained through the first half of the book—which I'm still writing, by the way.

You see, I remember my Papa telling me that if I ever can't finish something and feel stuck, walk away and come back to it when something sparks the need. Well, last month I was cleaning out some boxes of junk and I came across a folder. Inside of that folder was a first draft of a children's book. I sat down to read it and it was the Christmas story my papa used to tell me on Christmas Eve when I was a kid. As I read it, tears stream down my face as I remember the first half of it, but then there is more.

I realize that the story he used to tell me every year on Christmas Eve inspired him to write a whole book. He never did publish it. The story sat in a box for at least 20 years, and now he isn't here to even finish the story. I sat with that for a while, and I read the story at least six times. In the middle of reading it for the sixth time, I realized I need to finish this story and get it published. So I am doing just that.

My point—don't let a little bit of writer's block get you down! There is always something waiting around the corner to spark that beautiful imagination of yours!