Wednesday 31 August 2011

Write What You Know/Love

Write what you know is something that is thrown around A LOT when one begins to talk about writing. The question I always had was, how does the average person, with a regular 9-5, write a book about cops/spies/doctors/Julius Caesar etc. if its something they weren't there personally to experience?
The answer, I found, is that 'write what you know' is more a case of 'write what you love'. Because when you write what you love it becomes a part of you, and something that you love with your entire being you know very well. Its like a comfy sweater, for lack of a better term. But, you get my point.
And when you write what you love it feeds your soul in a way that nothing else can, and you begin to feel like that missing piece of your existence has finally (finally!) been found and you can live your life to the best of your ability. Its 5 star food for the soul.
That is part of the 'mystery' of how I came to this place. Once I started to write what I love, what I really and truly love, the whole process started to feel different and who I was as a person finally began to peek out from her hiding place. Once my world began to become more comfortable that real me started making more appearances, and I started to realize that she was quite likable. And when she was happy, and her soul was fed, everything was fantastic.
So, that is my central piece of advice for anyone who wants to start the journey of writing. Trust your instincts, and write what you love, and do it with such reckless abandon it might frighten you a little. It'll show on the page, and your readers will love you for it.

Monday 29 August 2011

First Step on a New Journey

Hello all!
I started this blog as part of the first step in a new journey in my life. Soon my greatest dream will be coming true, and my first book will be published.
This is everything I have ever dreamed of for, quite literally, my entire life. It's all I've ever wanted. I remember being six years old and walking into a bookstore and seeing Stephen King's name on so many books, taking up so much space on the shelves (and that was the 80's, now they should just give the man his own wing), and pointing at those books and saying "I want to be him!"
I did not realize the scope of King's writing until I was much older, and what an amazing talent he was, but things were already long in the works by that point. I wanted to be that man whose name was on all the books in the bookstore. And now as my 30th birthday approaches it is all going to happen, and I am super excited.

I haven't told that many people about this yet, but of course now that its online everyone will figure it out. I don't know why I haven't told anyone - perhaps its because of the reaction I've got from the people I told. Mostly its complete shock, and I don't understand. When someone has wanted something their whole life, and you know that, and it happens why on earth are you shocked? I can't believe it, did no one think I could really do this? I've been told that its shock because it has, seemingly, been so easy. But my inner circle knows that this has been far from easy, and the last part has just been full of blessings that I will never take for granted. This was the magic I was born to make, and I am damn well going to do it to the best of my ability.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know some fantastic people in this process, researching historical fiction is an ongoing commitment. I get asked the question quite a bit how do you know you've done enough research? That's the key. You don't. You never know if you've done enough, and if you get hung up on that you'll never write a word. The best piece of advice I can give in that regard is research until you can write your story. If you never get to that point, perhaps you should rethink your approach. Because at some point it'll all fall into place, and the magic will happen.

The quote that is the name of this blog is from The Raven from Edgar Allen Poe, I had some difficulty picking a name that seemed relevant and not pretentious. Hopefully it works.

I'm going to end this first post quickly. I intend on posting about my thoughts and everything I go through on my path to publication. It won't be perfect, it probably won't be brilliant, but it'll be me.


* The other pages, about the book and the series, will be up soon!!