I have been
nominated by Jessie at Jessie Ansons to do my own Blog Hop where I am required to
answer 6 questions about my writing process and the reasons that I write.
Sounds simple I know until you sit down and think about it. But here goes.
I’ve nominated
two other amazing writers to do their own Blog Hop.
1.
Why do I write.
This question forced me to really explore the why, which I
quickly realised was a very good thing at this particular stage of my writing. I
realised it is a fairly simple answer. However ‘simple’ doesn’t translate to
easy.
I love to tell stories. All kinds of stories. As a child I enjoyed writing stories for
school. When I was younger I used to
sing and loved the emotional songs. I
wanted to express the story and the emotion of the song and through voice, draw
the listener in to experience that emotion. Now I strive to do that through the
words alone
2. Why do I
write what I do?
I like to be eclectic in my writing so I can express many
different emotions and experiences. I like to make people laugh with jokes and so like to write humorous
stories. I read a lot of SF and fantasy
and would like to write more in that genre. Sometimes I write on a particular
theme for a competition but it has to be the right theme for me. I want to
entertain the reader so they have to keep turning the page.
3.
What am I
working on now?
For most of the last year I have been writing a
Fantasy/Horror story, that started out with a goal of 10,000 words and grew
like topsy into 22,000. I have put the
latest draft aside for a month or so to get some distance before I attempt a
final edit. I have written a few 500 word stories for ABC Open and have
resurrected my blog from the back burner.
Meanwhile I am back to short story writing. This has been a difficult task for me as the
rest of my small writing group have been
writing incredibly successful short stories – winning or receiving honourable
mentions and being published. Their stories have depth and layers and I wanted
to have that in my work. For a short
while I struggled to find depth and layers.
Then I realised I had been trying to do that the way they did and that
wasn’t my way. I don’t automatically
think in metaphors for example. Now I am finding my own style of depth and
layering in my telling of stories.
4. How does your writing process work?
Like Jess I do sometimes think of stories when I go about my
daily life. I also think about the writing when doing repetitive computer
games. But when I sit down to write I
don’t always have a finished story in my head, just a general idea of a start
or a plot or theme. When I write I like
to have a large block of time. I tend to ‘think on the keyboard’. I’m visual so I need to see the words. I like
to edit a bit as I go, but generally start with ‘telling’ the story so I get a
feel for the emotional content and then go back on the second draft for more showing. Lately I’ve begun to realise that having a
large block of time tends to make me a bit lazy. I’m deadline driven so sometimes I start when
there’s almost not enough time to finish (sigh). Perhaps I should follow all
the sage advice I’ve been given and make sure I spend 30 min a day writing, no
matter what. Or at the least at the
beginning of the day spend 30 minutes writing before doing anything else. I need more discipline.
5. Do I differ from others in my genre
I don’t really have a specific genre. At this stage in my
writing I’m not planning to write a
novel quite yet. I’m
happy writing short stories and long short stories and honing the craft. If an idea for a novel presents itself to me
and appeals I will venture into a novel. Being part of a wonderful small writing group
I have the amazing opportunity to read stories
in the different genres in which the members write. We can recognize each other’s Voice and this
has helped me to recognise and come to
accept my own Voice.
.Meet the Blog Hoppers
Now I must nominate 3 Bloggers to complete the same task I
have carried out above. Jessie has snagged some of the members of our small
writing group. So I have only 2 at present but what great writers they are. I look forward to reading their Blog Hops.
- Karen from ‘A Writer’s Life’ is a writer extraordinaire. She is an amazing teacher who has nurtured all the writers in our small group as well as many other local writers. In addition to her blog, which gives wonderful writing advice, she writes exquisite 100 word stories for Friday Fictioneers, as well as prize winning short stories.
- Elena from ‘othersidesun.blogspot.com’ is a wonderful bi-lingual Spanish-English writer of prose and theater. She has a unique take on Australian life. She has had great success with published stories and articles as well as having one of her plays performed.
