Fitzchiv
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 4, 2011
- Messages
- 94
Hi all,
Quick intro: 27, male, working in a reasonable but uninteresting job, glancing backwards at a degree course disappearing into the chasm of time..
In the last couple of years my passion for reading has been rekindled massively, having gone through a lull (and a certain amount of burn-out) during my late teen academic years.
As a person I think I’m 'settled' again after years of final transition into an adult - and I have come full circle back to reading and in particular the fantasy genre.
Six months ago it struck me that some of my favourite work hits, but not quite nails, the button of what really moves me in a story and character. The premise is there, but the emphasis on certain events in the central characters life could be exploited more. It's through this feeling of needing "more" I arrived at the conclusion one day that perhaps the way to get "more" was, rather than to read, to write.
The longest pieces I have written are two dissertations, long ago, approx 14,000 words in length. It has to be said that I was a little light on facts when writing them, and my..shall we say..'rambling'..style was used as a means to pad out the word count. The point really is that in general I enjoy getting my language down in writing, maybe a little too much at times.
So, upon deciding I would like to get into writing I have been doing a lot of thinking about the kind of world and mythology I want to work with - I think it's safe to say the level of fantastic in my current construct will be somewhat less elaborate than that of others.
I also selected the perspective I would like to at least start off working in. First person.
The next step has been to start reading about writing, I have just finished Your Writing Coach by Jurgen Wolff and have found it both extremely helpful in giving me an idea of techniques and approaches, but also hugely daunting.
I have purchased several fantasy reference books and historical reference books, to educate myself in the specifics of the environment my characters will inhabit. However I feel as if I am coming to the point in the next six months where I have an idea and snippets jotted down in my notebook, I have read books on high fantasy, castles etc, and have a good idea about the perspective I want to write from..but can't take the leap into actually writing.
My reason for posting on here is, in light of this, for advice on the obstacles I feel I am facing;
I think a basic set of questions I would ask a group of experienced, talented writers would be;
G
Quick intro: 27, male, working in a reasonable but uninteresting job, glancing backwards at a degree course disappearing into the chasm of time..
In the last couple of years my passion for reading has been rekindled massively, having gone through a lull (and a certain amount of burn-out) during my late teen academic years.
As a person I think I’m 'settled' again after years of final transition into an adult - and I have come full circle back to reading and in particular the fantasy genre.
Six months ago it struck me that some of my favourite work hits, but not quite nails, the button of what really moves me in a story and character. The premise is there, but the emphasis on certain events in the central characters life could be exploited more. It's through this feeling of needing "more" I arrived at the conclusion one day that perhaps the way to get "more" was, rather than to read, to write.
The longest pieces I have written are two dissertations, long ago, approx 14,000 words in length. It has to be said that I was a little light on facts when writing them, and my..shall we say..'rambling'..style was used as a means to pad out the word count. The point really is that in general I enjoy getting my language down in writing, maybe a little too much at times.
So, upon deciding I would like to get into writing I have been doing a lot of thinking about the kind of world and mythology I want to work with - I think it's safe to say the level of fantastic in my current construct will be somewhat less elaborate than that of others.
I also selected the perspective I would like to at least start off working in. First person.
The next step has been to start reading about writing, I have just finished Your Writing Coach by Jurgen Wolff and have found it both extremely helpful in giving me an idea of techniques and approaches, but also hugely daunting.
I have purchased several fantasy reference books and historical reference books, to educate myself in the specifics of the environment my characters will inhabit. However I feel as if I am coming to the point in the next six months where I have an idea and snippets jotted down in my notebook, I have read books on high fantasy, castles etc, and have a good idea about the perspective I want to write from..but can't take the leap into actually writing.
My reason for posting on here is, in light of this, for advice on the obstacles I feel I am facing;
- I feel as if my actual language skills are nowhere near sufficient to consider entering into this market. My English Lit. education ended with a B in GCSE in the late 90's and has gone untouched since. I read something on this site before posting this about Adverbs. Once I'd read it, I understood entirely what the debate was, however had you asked me straight off the bat what an Adverb was I would shrug my shoulders and click frantically at the Google search bar in my browser. This applies to pretty much the entire English language, including punctuation as I am sure by now you will have seen.
- I am daunted not only by the quality of writing, but the volume of it in the genre I am targeting. After a wander round the fantasy section of my local branch of Waterstones yesterday I was struck by the amount of books that appeared to have a similar central theme as the project I would, eventually, like to complete.
- I have a full-time job and cannot afford to leave it in order to chase this dream, at least not yet. In fact it's safe to say I wouldn't be able to turn this into a career until it yielded some kind of financial income sufficient to pay my bills!
- I'm not creative enough. I read the work of my favourite author and the way she develops a story over years, through multiple books, linking dots together over decades, weaving a higher story into the more immediate one with just enough disclosure to leave you looking for more in what you've already read - I read that and I simply think "I could not do that". How does someone arrive at that level of imagination and skill, where they can think up an entire cultural back-story that defines the way the current lives being described are lead?
I think a basic set of questions I would ask a group of experienced, talented writers would be;
- How can I learn to understand and use my language better?
- Is there a good book I can use to get me started on the very, very basics of writing - i.e. how many words per chapter in a novel, how to construct a story board etc, or are these all learned skills from trial and error?
- Is it possible to undertake this dream with a regular 9-5 job taking up 38hrs of a week?
- Help!
G