Thought I’d bore you with a little back story for this 1ooth post 🙂

I first started writing probably about seven, eight years ago with my good friend Owen and now we are finally closing in on getting something actually published, even if it will be a Print On Demand novel it will still be something out in the world for all to see.  I had never really considered writing as a potential career before this and it was only after Owen bugged me and bugged me, and bugged me to start a written project.  We had written something years before this but it was only a few lines and it vanished into the hard drive on Owen’s old computer (thank God) We spent the evening just scribbling down what ever was coming out of our heads that night and after that the need to write slowly began to grow within me, and this one project that we worked on took all of our attention.  In those first few years that was all that we really worked on, two other projects did get created by us in that time, one of which is finally being rebooted and made into something that we’re really excited about.  The other is close to being rebooted as well but I’m prioritising what I’m working on and I think that I will use NaNoWriMo to get that one properly off the ground.

I attempted a couple of other little stories in the early years but none of them went anywhere.  It was the joint work with Owen that really kept me going in those early years, although I did write one short story in that time which was the first thing that I ever finished, but it is set in the universe of the first project that we started.

We started off as naive as you could imagine two young men could be.  We would have three books written inside eighteen months, sign a mega money book deal which would lead into a mega, mega money movie deal with Hollywood and have a prequel written in time for the first movie to come out.  That was even before we had three chapters wrote!

Then for a few years we slowly got on with the first story and then the first draft was done.  It was over one christmas and I was working towards the ending and I finished it, then I realised that we had a first draft.  I felt liberated.  Then we spent a good year trying to iron out all the little problems that the story had and we never got it right.  So we kind of backed off from it.  We do want to write this story one day but despite all the depth we have to it I don’t think that I am a good enough writer to do it.  My proof reader is looking at the last draft to let me know what she thinks which I am looking forward to seeing.

It was about this time that I started to write more short stories which were mainly in the first person and I can’t really describe how much these stories have helped me as a writer.  I have learnt a lot about pacing and structure, how to let a character grow as well as world building.  In one particular series of stories which are set in towns that I know quite well which helped in getting a feel for the areas  and I’ve managed to create what I think are pretty detailed characters who each have some sort of a past.

Its been the last eighteen months that I have really become focussed on actually making something of writing.  In both joint projects with Owen and my solo projects I believe that I have stories that people are going to find engaging and enjoy.  There’s one novella written with Owen nearing completion and hopefully being released into the world by Autumn and another solo novella which will hopefully be ready by christmas.  I have one of my short stories which I will be looking to send out for submission this year as well.

Even though I have struggled a little lately I have never been more confident in my writing ability and what I want to achieve, I am meeting some great writers online who inspire me and I have learnt much from.  I do need to work on my weaknesses, discipline being my biggest weakness and the one that is holding me back.  I no longer think that I can only write when I am inspired, I can write whenever I sit down to write.

I love writing, if I havent written for a few days I start to get agitated and need that fix that only writing gives me.  I am still at the start of this journey, and it’s beginning to get exciting 🙂