Guest Post From Author Price McNaughton

It was the last thing I expected to happen. After a bad accident, I was put on bed rest. And I was only 27! To make matters worse, because I had a head injury, I was not allowed to use a computer or text. I was in a lot of pain and bored to tears. Watching television was alright at times, but it didn’t seem to make the days pass much faster. My favorite hobby, reading, was just too hard. It required concentration, and with that, the dreaded headaches would reappear. For years I had read voraciously, and now I didn’t know what to do.

One fateful day, I was watching yet another television show when my mother made a remark about the character of the people featured and what she would expect them to do because of it. It made me think. “That would make a great mystery,” I said.

What if that really happened? A story was born, and it wouldn’t leave me alone. When I was in the worst pain, lying in bed in the dark because the lights made my headaches worse, I would work on the story that existed only in my mind.

It was a mystery and I quickly created all the characters. I saw their chance meetings and heard their conversations as clearly as if I were there. I concentrated on this to take me away from the pain I was feeling. As the days passed, the story became more and more solid in my mind.

Finally, I began to improve and was cleared to use a computer for short periods of time. I was slowly regaining my former life, but the story wouldn’t leave me alone. It’s all there, I thought, I just have to write it down. It had always been my dream to write a book, but I kept putting it off.  It was always something I was going to do one day. But the fear that I would lose the details of my story, as well as the continuing boredom of house arrest, made me begin.

So I wrote when I felt alright, even if only for fifteen minutes, and I thought about my story constantly. Slowly, day by day, my word count went up. The plot thickened, and the book filled my days and mind. And then one day, it was finished.

I had done it. I had written a book. It wasn’t the best book in the world. I’ll admit that readily. But, it was mine and it was finished. I continued on to other stories that had begun to fill my mind. It was a satisfying feeling to get them out and onto paper. Then, a few books later, I started one that I felt could be published. I haven’t given up on my previous books. In fact, I’m rewriting, cleaning up, and editing my very first one with hopes of self-publishing it this spring/summer.

The trick to writing, for me at least, is to write. I started my book believing that it was going to be too great of a feat. Part of me never really thought I would finish it, but I did. Once I finished the first book, and then the next, it became easier and easier to write. Not because I had gained skills or everyone who read it had ravishing reviews. No, it was because I believed I could finish a book.

I know now that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, because I’ve seen it. Now, every story is just a journey through a no longer foreign land. I know the way and feel somewhat like a character myself, journeying back and forth to fetch my stories and lead them forward into the world.

I am making a page on my blog for all writers to report in. I don’t want you to share your plots or reveal your stories. I just want your word counts. Come and say: I wrote 1,000 words today! Or, my story is 100 words more complete! And when you’ve finished your book and you know the way, help someone else to find it.

How did you get started writing? And if you haven’t yet, have you not written down your stories? What’s holding you back? And why not start now? 

Price McNaughton was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. A childhood steeped in the stories and legends of her ancestors as well as the southern way of life led her to carry on the tradition and become a storyteller herself. After years of traveling and working at a variety of jobs, she has finally returned to her roots and devoted herself to writing. A Vision of Murder is her first book.  Her short story, The Ruby Necklace, is available in The Valentine's Day Mini-Mystery Compendium along with three other short stories by Giles Kent, K. B. Clyde, and T. B. Audrey.

Don't forget to pick up your copy of both Prices' books
A Vision of Murder
The Valentine's Day Mini-Mystery Compendium

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