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elise_rashaSo you want to write a story, eh? Great! Congratulations! Welcome to the wonderful world of the insane!
I say that in jest, though, seriously, there does seem to be an underlying current for writers to be at least someone insane. After all, some of the wonderful things that have been written in the course of human history? What are they if not small bouts of insanity being released? And I can list numerous titles in the fiction category that do just that! Alice in Wonderland, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Lord of the Rings . . . Harry Potter and let's not forget the dark imaginings of horror and crime/mystery writers. Yes, some of what they touch on is based on real life, on the human psyche', but man, those are some dark and twisted places!
If you happen to be reading this out of the hundreds and hundreds of blogs on writing out there, I can only imagine that you've been asking yourself the same question I've posed in the subject line. What do you plan to write? Better yet, what has been calling out to you, begging to put into written word? Do you have a burning fantasy of romance roiling around within you? Are you on a quest to find some lost item? Or are you trying to make sense of a tragic death that has left more questions than answers, even in light of an investigation? It doesn't necessarily need to be shared with the rest of the world, just to be expressed somehow, and it's burning away within you to do just that.
So what do you plan to write? What do you plan on expressing for yourself and, maybe, for all of the world to see? Is it just one story? Or are you a cauldron of ideas, bubbling away? How do you even pick which idea needs the most focus?
"I don't know!" you might cry out. "How did you do it?"
Well, as I've mentioned in a few other of my blog posts, I've been writing off and on since I was nine, steadily since the beginning of 2000. I've even name-dropped J.R.R. Tolkien as my biggest inspiration for wanting to write fantasy. I started writing fanfiction as a means to spend time with some of my favorite characters, and I learned a lot from it. One of my original characters came out of a (now lost) Lord of the Rings fanfiction piece. Because it's the one that calls to me the most, I am a science-fiction and fantasy author with a penchant for myths, legends, and fairy tales. (Yes, this is important to know as every genre has subcategories to fill niches.) So starting the writing process is something that's just always been with me, something I've always done and enjoyed, and I've heard many writers say as much as well.
That isn't to say you must start young to be a writer. Simply that you must take the ideas from the grey matter and put them into words and run with the idea that's first and foremost in your mind. Don't worry about everything sounding perfect the first time around - you're new, and it's going to take writing multiple drafts of the same manuscript to get the story in your head the shiny masterpiece it's meant to be. And putting words to paper can be easy or difficult. It helps to have people in your real and internet lives that are encouraging and are great sounding boards.
Also, ask yourself these questions:
What appeals to me? (Do you like romance? Westerns? Dramas? Crime/mystery? Historical fiction? Spiritual? Horror?)
What type of a story do I want to tell? (Are you a social commentator or a social justice warrior? Are you wondering what life on Mars will be like? The moon? Want to ride with Jesse James?)
And remember the following:
The "market" is something the publishing industry uses as a gatekeeper. It's something that's justified but also extremely flexible. And for beginning writers, something to not be worried about at this point. You're starting out. Don't kill the muse and the inspiration by worrying about what will sell and what won't. The "market" changes based on what writers want to read (thus they write what they want to read) and finding a readership this way. I've had at least one romance writer tell me there's a market for geek romance, and if there's a market for that, I'm sure there are others out there, just waiting to be tapped.
In the meantime, though, do the following. Just write. Worry about whether or not you're going to publish later. Find your voice and your style first and enjoy the ride. I'm not the first author to say as much nor will I be the last.
Oh, and don't ever give up.
You'll thank yourself later for it.
I say that in jest, though, seriously, there does seem to be an underlying current for writers to be at least someone insane. After all, some of the wonderful things that have been written in the course of human history? What are they if not small bouts of insanity being released? And I can list numerous titles in the fiction category that do just that! Alice in Wonderland, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Lord of the Rings . . . Harry Potter and let's not forget the dark imaginings of horror and crime/mystery writers. Yes, some of what they touch on is based on real life, on the human psyche', but man, those are some dark and twisted places!
If you happen to be reading this out of the hundreds and hundreds of blogs on writing out there, I can only imagine that you've been asking yourself the same question I've posed in the subject line. What do you plan to write? Better yet, what has been calling out to you, begging to put into written word? Do you have a burning fantasy of romance roiling around within you? Are you on a quest to find some lost item? Or are you trying to make sense of a tragic death that has left more questions than answers, even in light of an investigation? It doesn't necessarily need to be shared with the rest of the world, just to be expressed somehow, and it's burning away within you to do just that.
So what do you plan to write? What do you plan on expressing for yourself and, maybe, for all of the world to see? Is it just one story? Or are you a cauldron of ideas, bubbling away? How do you even pick which idea needs the most focus?
"I don't know!" you might cry out. "How did you do it?"
Well, as I've mentioned in a few other of my blog posts, I've been writing off and on since I was nine, steadily since the beginning of 2000. I've even name-dropped J.R.R. Tolkien as my biggest inspiration for wanting to write fantasy. I started writing fanfiction as a means to spend time with some of my favorite characters, and I learned a lot from it. One of my original characters came out of a (now lost) Lord of the Rings fanfiction piece. Because it's the one that calls to me the most, I am a science-fiction and fantasy author with a penchant for myths, legends, and fairy tales. (Yes, this is important to know as every genre has subcategories to fill niches.) So starting the writing process is something that's just always been with me, something I've always done and enjoyed, and I've heard many writers say as much as well.
That isn't to say you must start young to be a writer. Simply that you must take the ideas from the grey matter and put them into words and run with the idea that's first and foremost in your mind. Don't worry about everything sounding perfect the first time around - you're new, and it's going to take writing multiple drafts of the same manuscript to get the story in your head the shiny masterpiece it's meant to be. And putting words to paper can be easy or difficult. It helps to have people in your real and internet lives that are encouraging and are great sounding boards.
Also, ask yourself these questions:
What appeals to me? (Do you like romance? Westerns? Dramas? Crime/mystery? Historical fiction? Spiritual? Horror?)
What type of a story do I want to tell? (Are you a social commentator or a social justice warrior? Are you wondering what life on Mars will be like? The moon? Want to ride with Jesse James?)
And remember the following:
The "market" is something the publishing industry uses as a gatekeeper. It's something that's justified but also extremely flexible. And for beginning writers, something to not be worried about at this point. You're starting out. Don't kill the muse and the inspiration by worrying about what will sell and what won't. The "market" changes based on what writers want to read (thus they write what they want to read) and finding a readership this way. I've had at least one romance writer tell me there's a market for geek romance, and if there's a market for that, I'm sure there are others out there, just waiting to be tapped.
In the meantime, though, do the following. Just write. Worry about whether or not you're going to publish later. Find your voice and your style first and enjoy the ride. I'm not the first author to say as much nor will I be the last.
Oh, and don't ever give up.
You'll thank yourself later for it.
