In the beginning

Because I knew I would be busy in July, I wrote a few blogs to post on a subject of great interest to me, writing, and to address a question I have been asked-- How do I get stories? It was good for me to write this down for a couple of reasons. One of which is once I had gotten online, I discovered, to my surprise, how many talented writers there are. So I thought I would share my experiences in the hopes it encourages someone else to find enjoyment in creating their own completed stories.

My philosophy on writing can be broken down into various aspects but I must admit, if someone’s goal is to be as published writer, what I have learned doesn’t mean it would get anyone to that point. It is, however, how my stories come together to a point of getting characters, a plot, a beginning, middle, end, and using between 80,000 and 140,000 words.

For me, writing, whether it gets published or not has been a satisfying way to step into someone else's life, to spend imaginary time places I love, and create something rewarding to myself. It has an added benefit, unlike say sculpture or paintings, that the end products don’t take up a lot of space. Time though, yes much time is involved as writing is something that is done and done again.

One of the things I have found and really believe (and this covers any of my creative endeavors), I can only create the best I can do. That does not guarantee that what I am doing will be appreciated or wanted by anyone else. I can do my part in creating it and then (this is the big catch) I can put it out where others can decide if it is something they also like.

There are a lot of authors I really admire (likewise painters and sculptors), but I cannot be them. If I try to copy what someone else has created, it is craft at best. My own art comes from me, and it might or might not suit someone else. I can control my actions, not the reactions to what I do.

I have no interest in writing some kinds of stories but have always thought I'd love to be able to write what I call crone lit, which means good stories about older women but without romance. Up until recently that bothered me, because all that would come to me were ideas for stories about a man and a woman coming together in the midst of some dilemma as they try to decide if they can build a future together.

When I start to write anything else, say a story of three sisters, their complicated relationships with each other and maybe dealing with the breaking up of their parents marriage or maybe a woman coping with divorce or you know a multitude of real life instances, I start writing, which is how I do romances; and those other stories end up being a lot of words strung together but none of the things that I believe a good book needs to have to hold the reader's interest. If it's not even holding mine as I am writing it, I know it's not going to become of interest to anybody else.

Recently though, after working with so many of my stories at one time, trying to get them edited to a point I would want to put them out, I am feeling more positive about writing romances. There is an emotional release with them, a kind of fairy tale with real people quality that I actually feel good about. Mine are not the kind of story where the words are loaded with angst (no more than required for a passionate love), they have the bare minimum of flowery language and euphemisms, but I think are interesting stories (yes, sex is part of it) where through difficulties two people find something that might not be very realistic but is definitely emotionally satisfying to imagine as possible.

Anyway I am posting this in sections because it’s something which I have long done, been taught, and I think I have learned a few things along the way. What follows will be about fiction writing (which I think could apply to genres other than romances) as a craft and an art. Writing is both. Writing may not get someone published, but it is a gratifying creative activity—as well as damned hard work if you want to take it to the finish.

So, the beginning is deciding what type of story you want to tell.