I started piecing together a story in my head by asking the most essential questions (who, what, why, where, when, and how) and making up my own answers, or so I thought. One thing I've learned in my adventures with my characters is that they are very, very selfish. They desperately want to have their story told and as long as you are willing to listen and let them tell it they will give you all the details. It wasn't me coming up with the answers, I was just listening patiently and taking the time to write down what they told me.
So, I have a question and some advice. My question is, what was your experience the first time you started writing? My advice is very simple. If you want to write, shut up and listen!
I'd say I've always been a writer due to the fact that I have a compulsive need to write in my journal every night. That started when I was seven years old. I still write every night. As my personality grew, my writing reflected that. I thought, "I'm pretty funny." At least to my fifteen year old brain, I was hilarious. When I had one person, my high school English teacher agree with my observation, I set about writing a book that was semi-autobiographical. It would include many of my escapades and some that were too outrageous for even me to try in real life.
ReplyDeleteI only got five pages written. That's when I listened to the doubts that nagged me. "Who was I to try to write a book?" "I'm not really as funny as I think I am." "Who wants to read this?"
That project goes unfinished as did that dream. But my nightly dreams never stopped. I've always been blessed (I guess) with really vivid dreams. Most people only experience the dreams I do when they're pregnant. When I'm pregnant, the dreams stop and I miss out on the stories I see when I dream. (Maybe I have naturally high levels of some hormone that people only get when they're pregnant, but I have it all the time...the science is there somewhere...)
Recounting one of the many wild dreams I had to a friend, I was encouraged to write it as a book. It reignited the spark within me and that's when I actually got a whole book written.
Maybe I'll pull out my first project from when I was fifteen. Maybe I'll see I'm really not nearly as funny as I once thought...
My first story hit me in the car, too. I was driving my usual 45 minute commute, listening to my new MUSE CD, when BAM! Hello story. When I finally broke down and typed up what the characters were showing me, the story just flowed. I didn't think I'd ever be a writer. Heck, I didn't read a single book from cover to cover since probably middle school. When I finally started writing though, I did have a great support system. I had friends that would read my new work every day and give me feedback. Of course, I also had those nay-sayers that said I'd never finish writing it. Not sure what they're saying now, but I've long since finished that book, and I'm still writing. :)
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