Journey of a Thousand Miles

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” –Lao Tzu.

For sure, that first step toward becoming a published author is the most frightening. I mean, come on! What’s not to fear, right? There are so many “what if’s” to consider. It hardly seems worth it. Maybe I’ll just hunker down on a couch and binge on what Netflix has to offer. And don’t get me started on self-doubt. That’s where crap really hits the fan. Will I get ridiculed? What makes me think I can even write? Do I even have the time? Yeah. Just hand me three bags of Cheetos Puffs and a soda. This writing dream is stupid. Or is it? (There goes that self-doubt again.)

It was daunting when I decided to get up from my couch two years ago and take my first step into the world of literature. But I’ve won a few essay contests back in college, so no problem. I must admit that I took my first few strides with the naiveté of a confident fool. My fantasy novel would be epic. I'd publish it on Amazon KDP, destined to become an instant NY Times bestseller (just like JK Rowling, right?). But it was not until I stepped out of my living room that I realized how vast the world was.

One day, I was typing away my novel, dead sure it was going to be the next Lord of the Rings, when my phone beeped. It was a MeetUp message. I signed up a week earlier to see if there were writer groups I could join. What popped up was a notification about an upcoming event. A class on how to improve writing character Points of View (POV). Being a person of faith, I saw this as a type of providence since I was on the chapter on POV in the writer's self-help book I was studying. I don’t know if Providence pushed me to attend the free class given by award-winning fantasy novelist Maxwell Alexander Drake at the Centennial Library, but that one class opened my eyes to everything I never knew. And even though my dream of writing the next great American novel was brutally crushed (for now), I was ecstatic about the literary punishment that followed. Maybe Drake saw the thirsty glint in my eye and invited me to join him and his friends for dinner. But by reaching beyond my computer keyboard and adopting an attitude of humility, I had found my Obi-Wan.

Today, I am proud (in a humble kind of way) to say that I am a few steps into my ‘journey of a thousand miles,’ and I must say, it feels great. Though I still binge on Netflix and scoff down bags of Cheetos Puffs, I am glad to say that the epic fantasy novel I was talking about earlier is truly and solidly on its way to fruition. Though Drake would not approve of my use of adverbs (“truly and solidly”), my arrival at my set destination will be in great part thanks to people like him. So, if you are where I once was, get up. Take that first terrifying step and get your book-signing pen ready anyway. As for myself, even if my work does not end up as one of the first results in Amazon’s algorithms for a bestseller, I would still be a writer. And isn’t that the true goal? (And for the record...No. I don't think JK Rowling had it easy.)