What an incredible five years this has been.
I started this journey on December 17th, 2015 after seeing The Force Awakens for the first time. I had no idea where my story would take me, or how many people I would meet along the way. To be honest, I figured it would end up trashed like all the other stories I started but never finished.
It almost did, too. I wrote the first few chapters and introduced my take on Rey and Kylo Ren's force bond (before The Last Jedi was even introduced, I'd like to add). Then, for some reason, I forgot about my story.
After VIII was released and I saw some of my ideas come to life on the big screen, I felt my love of writing reignite once more. I opened Wattpad for the first time in nearly a year and found my readers had grown from a couple hundred to several thousand, with some begging me to come back and update. I never thought I'd have anyone asking to read more of anything I'd written.
I did update, slowly but surely, and here we are today. The whole thing is my own version of Frankenstein's monster, and I love it dearly. I've never finished a writing project of this size before. It's a mess, yes, but it reflects the changes I went through in my life, the lessons I learned over the years it took to complete it, and the battles I've had to fight to get where I am today. In a way, writing this story helped me find my voice.
I'm not an organized person whatsoever. If I could do this all over again, there are a TON of things I'd change. I won't try to offer advice for aspiring writers because I myself am still an aspiring writer. Rather, I'd like to offer this little bit of inspiration: it may take months or years for you to find your voice and finish your story, but DON'T GIVE UP. You are 100% capable of achieving anything you set out to do. You may do it in a way that doesn't make sense to anyone else (see: my lack of any outlining or planning whatsoever) but that's what makes you, you. Don't let anyone tell you your dream is stupid or you're doing something wrong just because it isn't how they would do it.
Finally, I just want to thank each and every one of you who commented, voted, followed me, or sent me messages of support and encouragement. If not for you, this story wouldn't have made it past the Prologue. I am forever in your debt, and I love you all dearly.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
- Kara