(...)

I woke up under a bridge passage to the last rays of sun and a cool breeze. She was staring down at me with those big brown-green eyes. I sat up and stared back at her. She wore a frayed yellow dress and no shoes, her hair was tangled and her nails were dirty. Were there street children in Ghent? What did she want from me?

I looked further at the bars and restaurants and got up. She held my arm and gently shook her head no. “But I need help.” She kept a firm grip. “I need to go home.” I checked my cellphone and confirmed what I suspected, it was dead. I didn’t know where I was and I didn’t remember grandma’s address by heart. Now this strange kid tells me not to ask for help. I had to talk to someone, but somehow I was drawn to her.

“What’s your name?”

She blinked.

“I’m Luke.” I said, placing a hand on my chest. “Uhm… Naam? Luke.” I tried.

“Hanneke.”

“Nice to meet you, Hanneke.” I stretched out my hand. She shook it. Hers was much softer than I expected from a street kid.

Night fell quickly and the old houses and street lights reflected on the water. We stood under the bridge and nobody seemed to notice us.

“So, do you live around here?” I tried making a roof over my head with my hands.

“Nee.” She said and looked away.

“Mama? Papa?”

“Nee.”

“Where do you live, then? Why are you here?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Look, it’s late and my parents must be looking for me. I’m going to find a police agent somewhere and tell them I’m lost. Bye, Hanneke.”

“Kom.” She pulled my hand and ran. I ran after her. 

(...)

Coming soon! 

About ten years ago I got this itch and started writing stories. I had the idea, thought about it for a while and then jotted it down on my notebook. A while later I typed it on our shared home computer and was done with it forever. That was writing for me for a long time.

I had no technique. No discipline. No routine.

I also didn’t believe I was a writer. It was just something I felt like doing.

I showed my stories to my father, who liked them and started printing them now and then on his local newspaper. My column was called E daí? (So what?)

I showed some of them to my professors at University and they provided me some good feedback.

People talked to me on the street about how they resonated with the stories I wrote. (I lived on a very small town). 

I moved to the US and started blogging about my experiences. I wrote some stories in English. I took a Fiction Writing workshop on Monday nights. That’s when I started dreaming about actually being a writer.

With the help from a friend I self-published a collection of short-stories at my old University press. 

And then I stopped writing. I don’t know why.

I spent a year in one of the most peaceful, beautiful places I had ever seen and I didn’t write a single story. I had a lot of free time and not a lot to worry about. Why didn’t I write? I lived in an effin tower right next to an effin castle, for god’s sake!

Maybe that hibernating time was necessary.

Now I write again and I gradually became more serious about it. I realized that writing is something I will always do, no matter what. I also admitted that I needed to improve a lot and this is what I’ve been trying:

• Write more.
• Read more. 
  
• Read about writing.
• Talk about writing.
• Ask friends to beta-read and give feedback.
  
• Re-write (Seriously the most important thing I’m learning right now.)
  
• Treat my writing as a job. Don’t schedule anything after I set that time for writing.
• Implement techniques like this one. 

Truth be said, I didn’t spend all day and I didn’t come up with one novel idea. I sat down for a couple of hours and in the end I had a series of ideas for short stories or novellas. They are placed right in front of me on my desk and whenever I finish a story I have a beautiful list to choose the next one from. 

At the moment I'm waiting for feedback from beta readers, creating a cover and writing a new short story. Then I need a final edit, formatting and a nice blurb. I never thought I'd be saying this. How exciting! 

How about you? Are you working on that big dream? Are you giving your talents a chance to flourish? 

So about a year ago I decided to write a book.

I needed to tell a story about identity, or its loss. A story about quitting life as you know it and starting from scratch in the name of love. Sometimes it’s fabulous, but a lot of times it’s just hard.

I knew that a lot of women in that situation would love to read it and feel a little less alone. I knew that many people would resonate with the places and conflicts I wanted to write.

So I started. I had no idea how to write a novel. How many words a day or how often. Characters. Plot. First, second, third, fourth drafts! Beta readers, editors, designer.

You see, all I’ve written in my life were short stories and blog posts. But I needed to tell that story.

I wrote and I researched and I edited in no particular order. There were entire months when I didn’t write a single sentence. You know, some things needed to get done, life called.

I was losing the story. I doubted it. I thought it was boring and nobody would like it.

But writing is the one thing I have always wanted to do and I was committed to getting better at it. I had ideas and I had the time, it was the perfect moment to get serious.

I started thinking about the story ALL the time. I wrote and I wrote (and I tried to stop editing and rereading) and I got to the end at around twenty thousand words. That’s about half a novel. A novella. It’s not what I had in mind, I really wanted to write “a real book”, but hey! what a progress for a short story kinda girl.

Right now I have three beta readers reading my second draft and I plan to release it as a Kindle e-book. I don’t know if I’ll ever write a novel. Maybe. But I do know I will become a better writer.

I just have to write. More words, more often, more focused. I just have to read. A lot. All kinds of stuff.

And when I’m not reading or writing I’ll be reading about writing. Like Stephen King’s On Writing that has been on my list for a while and I finally read it. Or indie author’s blogs like Ksenia Anske who gives her novels out for free or Ashley R. Carlson who wrote and published her first novel in six months.

It’s inspiring and it makes me believe I can do this. And when I watch Elizabeth Gilbert’s talk on creativity I just think ‘Man, that’s what I want to be when I grow up.’

Do what is doable. Start now.

That is one of my favourite lessons from Leonie Dawson’s Business Goddess Course, which I did for the first time a year ago.

Last year I was a confused, insecure, freaked-out mess. I’m still not over it, but I can certainly say that I’m on the right path. When I couldn’t find a job in Belgium and felt like I had a whole lot to learn about myself and “what to do with my life”, I decided to take the leap and sign up for the Amazing Biz and Life Academy. God, I love that name! Because that’s what I dreamed of: having an amazing career and an amazing life. I wanted to create my own income somehow, doing work that I love and doing whatever the hell I wanted with my time!

Leonie teaches women all over the world how to start and grow online businesses and she does that by sharing exactly how she did it herself. How she went from blogging and selling prints of her art to a million dollar a year company that keeps on growing.

The ABLA is overflowing with e-courses, workbooks, videos, meditations and, best of all, a forum where we can ask and share anything and where people are honest and serious about sharing their talents and creating the life + work they dream of. They are artists, teachers, writers, coaches - creative and spiritual women.

Since I joined I learned so much about blogging, websites, mailing lists, creating, marketing and selling online products (books and courses), connecting with like-minded people, different ways to make money online and so much more.

However, the best thing I learned was how to get out of that paralyzing freaked-out state I was in. Leonie’s resources, other members’ blogs and forum discussions eventually brought me more clarity about what I want to do. It was a twisty road that included the creation of this website (with my own domain name!), e-books, a LOT of guest blogging, reading and networking, ideas that never left my head, doubting and crying and being broke. Damn, I’m still broke! But things are coming together and looking up. I KNOW now what I didn’t know then: I am a writer. I am going to write all my life and I’ll get better and better at it. I’ll publish this book I’ve been working on, one way or the other. And I’ll write another one. And another one. Money will follow.

Leonie's newest program, Double Your Biz Intensive, is out today! It is so complete and full of advice and I've already started taking notes and thinking about what I can improve about my blogging and online presence. And as she says, theory is not going to grow your business; implementing what you learn will. 

So if you own a business (online or "in real life") or have always dreamed about starting one; If you would like to learn how to make money online or profit from your passions, check her out: Biz and Blog Star Workshop - blog - videos - freebies.