WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH WRITING AGAIN by Sherry Shindelar

WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH WRITING AGAIN by Sherry Shindelar
Tuesday, June 30, 2020 by Patti Shene

IT IS MY PLEASURE TO WELCOME ONE OF MY CRITIQUE PARTNERS, SHERRY SHINDELAR TO THE OVER 50 WRITER. SHERRY SHARES HOW HER PASSION FOR WRITING WAS REIGNITED AND IS NOW BURNING STRONG.

WHEN I FELL IN LOVE WITH WRITING AGAIN

Sherry Shindelar

Last summer I fell in love with writing again. It had been years since I’d worked on my story. I’d started the story when my daughter was two. She was now twenty-four. Not that I had been working on it all of those years, I didn’t get serious about writing the story until my daughter was five, and I finished it when she was eight. Finished? Yea, right. Well, I thought I had finished it. I applied for and won a state grant to pay my way to a national writer’s conference.

Hundreds of writers all in the same place? I felt like I was in a little bit of heaven. The highlight of my week was pitching my novel to an editor of a major publishing house. My week? It was more like one of the highlights of my life, especially when the editor said I should send her a synopsis and the first three chapters. Months later, that led to her requesting the entire book. Then, the waiting.

By the time I heard back, it’d been almost a whole year since the conference. She rejected my story. Her letter was kind, and she pointed out strengths, along with weaknesses, but in my mind, it was like a big red “X’ across all three hundred pages.

A year later I returned to college. I wanted a place where I could see evidence of progress, where I could receive recognition for my work (A’s), and where hopefully, I could earn a decent income. I didn’t intend to turn my back on writing. I was even a creative writing major, but I shoved my story in a box under my dresser.

A year of undergrad work to finish my bachelors, and then I moved onto graduate school, earning first my Masters in English, and then my PhD, losing myself in literature and academic writing. I wondered if I’d ever return to my story. I contemplated starting a new story, maybe something dystopian or young adult. I even consider the possibility that I had lost that part of me, the part of me that could build characters and lives across decades and centuries.

Then, last summer, I pulled the box out from under the dresser, and I unburied the past. I began to read. And I fell in love with Daniel and Jenny and the Shenandoah Valley all over again. How could I forsake them? Their lives in my head had begun before my daughter was even born. I jumped into their heads, and the story began to unfold, again. Except better, deeper, richer than I’d ever imagined.

I wrote 10,000 words last June, 50,000 in July, and 40,000 in August, and I have been writing ever since. The words poured out onto the page. And as I read them, I knew. God had been gracious in not allowing me to publish my story all those years before. Daniel and Jenny’s story had not been what it could be. It had been a rough shell in need of chipping, molding, and shaping.

And God had done so much in my life in those years in between, both joys and pains, I’d never dreamed of. He’d been chipping, molding, and shaping me. It is with a heart that is wizened, scarred, and strengthened that I return to writing, with eyes that see what the twenty or thirty-year old me could have never seen.

Originally from Tennessee and the Shenandoah Valley area of Virginia, Sherry Shindelar loves to take her readers into the past. She is an avid student of the American Civil War, and her current novel in progress, Shenandoah Reclaimed, is set in the Shenandoah Valley during 1863 – 1864. When she is not busy writing, Sherry is a college English professor working to pass on her love of writing and literature to the next generation. Sherry is part of ACFW, RWA, and the SSAWW. She currently resides in Minnesota with her husband.

Comments

Sherry Shindelar From MN At 7/5/2020 11:11:10 PM

I want to thank everyone who replied to my blog post. I appreciate your encouragement and support. And I pray that God will work in your lives to bring to paper and to your readers, the stories He has for you to write. Many blessings and happy writing:)

Cleo Lampos From Illinois At 7/3/2020 10:38:11 AM

Your story is one of waiting for God's perfect timing. To get the layers of depth to the story and the emotions, YOU needed time. We all do. Sounds like this story of Daniel and Jenny will be a wonderful summer read. thanks for being faithful to your call to write.

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Cleo. Thank you for stopping by and joining the conversation. God's perfect timing is right, and I know Jenny and Daniel's story will be all God planned for it to be.

Mary Pat Johns From Texas At 7/1/2020 2:52:08 PM

Oh, how I loved your story! Parts of it mirror my own. Thanks so much for sharing this with us. It makes me feel far less isolated as a writer.

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Mary Pat. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment for Sherry. We are so blessed to have connected with each other!

Gwendolyn Gage From Kentucky At 7/1/2020 1:23:55 PM

Love this peek into your writing journey, Sherry! It’s time for Daniel and Jenny’s story to shine. Thanks for sharing and encouraging us!

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Gwen. Thank you for stopping by and leaving a message for Sherry. What a blessing that we have all connected with each other.

Becky M Van Vleet From CO At 7/1/2020 9:53:54 AM

Hi Sherry--I love your path that you have shared with us. In fact, it encourages me. I am a 60-something writer and other than a few feeble attempts with freelancing, I just started serious writing less than two years ago. I wish you many blessings. Thanks for sharing!

Reply by: Patti Shene

Hi Becky. Thank you for visiting and leaving a message for Sherry.

Amre From Idaho At 7/1/2020 7:31:12 AM

Wow, so good to read your story, Sherry, and see how the Lord has led you to this moment! God never misses an opportunity and works to bring everything together for our good and His glory! He's got something special in mind for your story! Happy to be part of your journey! :)