Writing a book is one of the most challenging, inspiring, enjoyable things I’ve ever taken on. But how do you start? Where do you start? Is there a right way to writing? What about rules? (If there’s one thing I am not good at, it’s following rules…).
Hoping to get those questions answered, I joined my first writing class. Soon I discovered that some writers like to plan out the entire plot-line before writing their first word. Others start by thoroughly researching their subject matter. I for one, decided to just ‘go with the flow’ and write.
All that I had was an opening sentence: “Listen, I want to tell you something.” (Not to worry, no ‘spoiler alert’ is needed, as it’s no longer the opening line to my book. I now have a better one…). Next thing I know, I’m creating my two leading characters and the story was weaving itself around them. As a ‘visually creative’ person, I could clearly see my words translating into vivid images in my mind, like a Technicolour movie playing before me.
As I mentioned in my previous post (which you’ve read, of course), I had intended to write a short story and not a book. But then as I progressed in my writing, getting closer to my 2,500 words goal, I realised it just wasn’t enough. I had more to write. So I gave myself a new goal of 5,000 words. By the time I had written my 10,000th word, two things were very clear to me: the first was that I had really more to write about and the second was that it was going to be much much longer than I expected. Now that I’ve begun, with my first effort behind me and new thoughts already in mind, I’m beginning to wonder just where my writing will take me on this Fantasy Quest I’ve created.
As a ‘rule breaker’, I have found there is one rule that I do manage to follow in my writing, that ‘nothing is never as it seems’. Which, by the way, is the theme of my books…
Hoping to get those questions answered, I joined my first writing class. Soon I discovered that some writers like to plan out the entire plot-line before writing their first word. Others start by thoroughly researching their subject matter. I for one, decided to just ‘go with the flow’ and write.
All that I had was an opening sentence: “Listen, I want to tell you something.” (Not to worry, no ‘spoiler alert’ is needed, as it’s no longer the opening line to my book. I now have a better one…). Next thing I know, I’m creating my two leading characters and the story was weaving itself around them. As a ‘visually creative’ person, I could clearly see my words translating into vivid images in my mind, like a Technicolour movie playing before me.
As I mentioned in my previous post (which you’ve read, of course), I had intended to write a short story and not a book. But then as I progressed in my writing, getting closer to my 2,500 words goal, I realised it just wasn’t enough. I had more to write. So I gave myself a new goal of 5,000 words. By the time I had written my 10,000th word, two things were very clear to me: the first was that I had really more to write about and the second was that it was going to be much much longer than I expected. Now that I’ve begun, with my first effort behind me and new thoughts already in mind, I’m beginning to wonder just where my writing will take me on this Fantasy Quest I’ve created.
As a ‘rule breaker’, I have found there is one rule that I do manage to follow in my writing, that ‘nothing is never as it seems’. Which, by the way, is the theme of my books…