When I was a young (much younger) writer tackling my first story with pencil and paper, I believed that I was embarking on a lonely career where I would lock myself away for months while I exercised my genius to emerge with a novel ready for publication. Accolades and creativity would be enough to drive me. Surprise, surprise, my authoring life didn’t go as planned. Not even close. Fast-forward many years later to me in college where I’m still doggedly pursuing a creative writing degree because I am too stubborn to consider changing course and too in love with the craft to give it up. It was in the classroom setting that I realized how monumentally important having other people cheering me on was to my writing process. Having a set deadline to turn in my work for class was also helpful in motivating me to complete projects. Now thatRead More