Once Upon A Time ...
Once Upon A Time…
So you want to be a writer? Well after having written for over twenty years, I can say it is the best job in the world :) There is nothing more thrilling than, not only seeing your words in print, but hearing from people who have read them. It is one of the most humbling aspects of my whole life.
Life Experience
By the time we have reached sixty we have acquired so much life experience. We have had relationships with hundreds, maybe thousands, of people, perhaps raised a family, had a career. Even if we haven’t experienced the things ourselves, we know about love, wars, crime, health, murders, travel, celebrities, happiness, birth, death. All the things people want to read about!
The wealth of knowledge and information we have stored in our minds, means we can use them to become first class story tellers. We have accumulated a lifetime of memories, experiences, anecdotes, tales, mysteries and sharing these with others is pure joy.
Fiction Or Non Fiction?
There are hundreds of things to write about, but fundamentally it come down to fiction or non fiction, imaginary or real. If you are a creative person you may prefer to write fiction as you will be able to put on paper the images, characters, etc. in your mind. If you are the type of person who enjoys research, you may be prefer non fiction. Having said that, I have written both and really enjoy it.
Creative Writing (fiction)
This will include novels, poetry, plays, writing for children. The focus is on the creative use of language and using your skills, so that your reader can imagine being a character within the book. For example if you were writing about Little Red Riding Hood, you could start with something like ‘It was dark inside the wolf’. This immediately captures the imagination and draws the reader on a journey.
Writing for children is always fun, though can be one of the most difficult, not only in terms of writing, but in getting published too. Everyone seems to want to write for children (I do too!).You also have to take into account the age and stage of a child, use appropriate language and consider the content and length of story. Generally the younger children are, the shorter their attention span.
Factual Writing (non fiction)
If you have knowledge and experience in a particular area, you might like to share this with others. For example, you could be a travel blogger or write a cook book. You may decide to write about your career, perhaps you were in the army, music business or a midwife, or any career that people might be interested to read about.You could also choose to write a biography about someone, or even an autobiography or memoire about you.
Enjoy The Process
The process of writing can sometimes be exasperating, especially if you are writing a long piece. Sometimes I just stare at a blank page for hours and not write a single word, other times I am unable to stop writing! I have absolutely no idea why, but I have learnt that if I can’t write today, that’s ok. There is always tomorrow :)
Just Start Writing
So just begin at the beginning. It doesn’t matter if its perfect (very unlikely in my experience!), you can always go back and change whatever you like, and most of the time I edit two or three times, sometimes more.
I am sure when William Shakespeare, Mark Twain or JK Rowling started writing they never imagined where it would lead. Who knows, you might have millions of readers, a few hundred, or even just the most important reader, You. What matters is that you are putting down on paper something which, for the moment, is just inside your head. Once that is done, someone could be reading it in hundreds of years from now. Now there's a thought...
Thank you for popping by Lily X 💝💝💝 I would love it if you could follow me please :) Click the 3 lines on the top of the page and then click follow.
