It all starts with an idea

Those who know me would say I’m enthusiastic about the English language and the creative writing process. Whenever I see a series of words joined in a logical way I’m compelled to read them. An avid reader since the age of six, I’ve long been fascinated with stories of all kinds from Golden Books to comics; short stories to novels; science fiction and fantasy to romance. Yes, even romance.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had a vivid imagination and been able to tell a story in an entertaining way, but when it comes to putting those same stories into writing, I’ve found it extremely difficult, fallen short of my expectations and eventually given up. But not any more! Last year I decided to follow my dream of becoming a novelist and enrolled in a Diploma of Professional Writing and Editing.

Through this blog, I’ll be sharing my voyage from obscurity to Published-dom, in the hope of sparking discussion among writers of all levels, inspiring other emerging writers and increasing our knowledge through a mutually beneficial relationship. In the process, we might even have a little fun.

During my ramblings, please keep in mind that writing is a very personal process. I’ve adapted most of my writing habits from those of like-minded writers, my tutors and prolific authors. However, no method is perfect. What works for me may not work for you as our brains process information in very different ways.

Some writers talk about ‘letting the characters speak for themselves,’ and ‘allowing the story to develop of its own accord.’ I have a lot of respect for people who write this way, but it just doesn’t work for me. I like structure and order, and need to control my narrator to minimise time wasted drafting ideas that randomly try to take over the story. I tend to think a lot about the story, characters, themes and settings, and develop each in my mind before committing to a written plan. And I plan an awful lot. Maybe too much, as you might notice :)

I researched tried and proven approaches used by prolific and successful authors. I visited tons of websites and blogs dedicated to the writing process, borrowed tons of books from my local library and read as widely as I could. Whenever I came across a technique that sounded interesting, I tried it. If it didn’t work, I just try another - no matter how disheartened I became. Eventually, I devised my own hybrid process of borrowed techniques, which I’ll likely finetune as I gain more experience.

Over the next few weeks I hope to create a piece of micro-fiction and use it in a number of exercises that explore the elements of story telling - such as point of view, tense, voice - and various structural and language techniques. I’ll likely stick to speculative fiction as it’s dear to my heart and is long overdue an increase in popularity.

I welcome your feedback during all stages of the writing process and would love to hear your opinions - even if they conflict with my own. Please also keep in mind that I’m an emerging writer and have a LOT to learn before I can claim to be an expert.

I hope you find this an exciting and entertaining process, and look forward to your comments,

Emanuel