We read...

To know we are not alone. ~C.S. Lewis~

Friday, July 10, 2009

Now monthly on the First Friday (of course)

Friday Firsts* Copy/paste the question and button.
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When was the first time you thought ‘I can do that’ and put pen to paper for your first work of fiction? Care to share yours I’d love to read some new stories.

When I first read Tolkien I was so taken by the other-worldliness of Middle Earth I thought I’d like to create my own world. I had great ideas for the most wonderful leading man (based way too closely  on Strider) and a grand quest theme. It did not take long to work out that Tolkien possessed a genius that few people have and that the great novel just was not in me (I was about 13/14).

It took another 35 years for me to actually have the skills to write and the knowledge that I am not a writer. I’ve heard enough authors talk to know that their inner life needs expression, they have a compulsion to write. I understand it because I get antsy when I’ve been deprived of creative time. I think I need to make jewellery and beads and cards in the same way as a writer needs to write.

That’s not to say I didn’t absolutely love my creative writing classes and the process of writing, I did. But I know that anyone who can say ‘one day’ about putting those stories I’ve got floating around in my head down on paper is not an author. What about you have you managed to take the step from reader to writer?

Puzzel: On a cold day in April what time were the clocks striking

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've never really written fiction but I've written poetry.

Answer: The clocks were ticking Thirteen

Anonymous said...

I meant striking, not ticking!!

Nise' said...

I know I can't do it! LOL.
The clocks were striking thirteen in George Orwell's 1984.

Robin M said...

Eons ago when I was a teenager had an idea for a story. Wrote two chapters then nothing after that. I've always had an active imagination though, but never really thought to put it to paper.

October 2007. I came across someone talking about National Novel Write Month and it sparked something in my brain. It was a "I can do that" moment. Thought I'd give it a try. Have been writing ever since. Am currently rewriting my first nano and the 2nd one is stewing on the shelves. Have a 3rd idea brewing for 2009 Nano. Will I ever publish anything? Unknown. But the joy is in the creative process.