The beginning and Status Quo.

It all started in November of 2012. I had taken a class called 'Creative Writing' and soon found out that I could do my 'praxis studie' ( sth like a practical experience) for my studies in this class. Since I am studying The English Language, Lingustics and Literature (with focus on British culture and history) but don't want to work as a teacher later (in which case my 'Praxis studie' would have been in a school - No, thanks!) I was quite happy about the opportunity. My lecturer gave me a few choices from which I chose to write a novel of 50 000 words. I had always wanted to write a novel and thought, "I might as well do it now and earn a few credit points with it".
Very early on I realized that I couldn't just write 50 000 words. In our class we were advised to leave our inner editor at home and just write whatever comes to mind. I can't do that. "If I do this, I am going to do it properly, maybe I can even get it published when I'm done," I said to myself. Luckily I don't have a deadline, so I decided to take my time about it and write the best novel I can at this point.
It wasn't hard to think of a plot - I chose to make a very vivid dream I once had into the novel. This was a dream which very well might have been a children's film: There were children, a roller coaster and Santa Claus. But I didn't necessarily want to write about Santa Claus, so I thought about ways to digress from the 'plot' without changing it too much. So I made a few alterations, created characters and strands of plots on the basis of the dream and soon I had a very promising outline.
As I wrote earlier, I can't leave my inner editor at home. I have to check every sentence, every pragraph thousands of times for the right choice of words, the right use of grammar, spelling and coherance. I am not a native speaker of the English language so it was quite hard at first to form good sounding sentences without repeating the same words over and over again (Oh, how I hate reiteration of words).
Therefore it took me much longer to write and finish a chapter compared to my classmates.

Until now I have written about 12 000 words. I might be quite slow, but I don't have a deadline and so I cherish the freedom I've got. I always go back to previous chapters I wrote, to check, correct or add things and am quite proud of what I have accomplished so far.
My lecturer has complimented me several times on my writing style and other people who have read parts of my writing gave me raving reviews as well. So I might be on to something. I just might. And this keeps me going.