I have to write. I cannot imagine a world without books and I’d like some out there to be either written by me or to have a contributory story/poem/limerick from me in them. (Pleased to say that is now being achieved, especially with the publication of From Light to Dark and Back Again, my debut flash fiction collection).
I like to play my part in adding to the great pool of stories (I see it as a kind of thank you for the stories I enjoyed when I was a child and still enjoy). Writing adds to literature. Helps it not to die. I’ve always found it easy to think of imaginary characters and it makes sense to get them out of my head and put them on to paper and see what happens. And if I can get the stories published (a kind of vindication, something every writer craves), then so much the better.
I love the feeling of a story coming together as I work towards getting the first draft down (which improves as I complete the first edit, which is where I remove unintentional repetitions and so on). I also love that moment when I know I have done all that I can at this particular stage on a piece of work and I get it out in the post or by email. Course the best moment is when that piece of work is accepted for publication! A little bit of validation goes a long way and I’ve found others have read things into my stories I hadn’t realised were there (but in a good way, they’ve seen depth I hadn’t realized I’d put in!).
What I Loathe about Writing
I loathe those moments when you can envisage the scene (your outline is also clear) but somehow the words do not flow as nicely or as well as you’d like them to. I’ve come to the conclusion this is natural. We’re human, not machines, so there are bound to be days when this happens and I’ve learned to keep writing.
I loathe the fact that my toner cartridge always runs out half way through a print run and you don’t spot it in time to cancel the rest of the print (well I rarely manage it anyway). I dislike it intensely when people dismiss the importance of books or try to imply writing is easy (overlooking the fact it takes dedication, patience and persistence).
I also loathe it when I’m writing well but time gets in the way.
Conclusion
I love producing stories that work, that are entertaining and I’m always thrilled when I’ve had feedback saying the tales made people laugh. In a bloody miserable world, it is good to make people laugh with a lighthearted story. Therapy for me as well as my reader I think.