Monday, June 15, 2015

A writes: Why I Write


I know B already shared this post a few weeks ago, but I thought it was interesting and I wanted to share it too.

B's been inspiring me a lot lately, particularly with her 'write a bit daily' ideas. I'll admit that I also find myself waiting for inspiration to strike. Or worse, editing. Editing is something I've found that just shouldn't happen until the end of the book - otherwise each day I find myself just going over the previous work, even if I'm not necessarily editing and instead just rereading. As an attempt to break that, I've been forcing myself to just write and so far its going well. A part of this is also going to be an effort to do more regular blog posts, so we'll see how we go! 

So...

WHY DO I WRITE?
To me, this isn't really a question. You might as well ask why I breathe, or sleep, or eat. For as long as I can remember, stories and their characters have just been a massive part of who I am. Even if I'm not physically putting a story down onto paper, it's always in my head. It's a strange feeling - a part of me does, and always will, live inside many different worlds that no one else understands, at least not until they read about them. And even then, sometimes what they get is only a glimpse into a world I see, into the lives of characters who I know very intimately. Why do I write? I suppose the easiest answer would be because I want you to see - the worlds, the people, their stories. I want you to love them as much as I do, but if you don't, that's okay. I'll keep writing them anyway, because I could never stop. I can never stop.

HOW DO I WRITE? 
Typically in bed, but lately also in front of the TV. I actually prefer paper and pen, but the ease of a computer is undeniable and so that makes it my object of choice. I'm one of those people who always has a writing playlist - what's on it tends to vary. Sometimes it's just whatever music I'm loving at the moment - normally songs with emotions, though. I've also become a huge fan of 'epic' music, like Audiomachine. It makes me think of sword fights, and dragons, and always helps me really want to write, even if I'm not feeling inspired for the story itself.  

HOW DOES MY WRITING DIFFER FROM OTHERS IN ITS GENRE? 
I think B's answer to this was fantastic. Faith is the biggest part of our lives, and that comes into our writing a lot - even if it's not always obvious. I think as well, the fact that theres two of us can make a difference! At least, I like to think so.

HOW DO I GET PAST WRITER’S BLOCK? 
You write. You don't edit, you don't re-read, you just write. Even if it all seems useless, and doesn't seem to have anything to do with your plot - just keep going. I find the moment I start to look back at the book, or even the last couple of pages, I get bogged down - all I can see are the flaws and I spend far too much time trying to fix things. For me, the only thing to do is to look forwards, even when I hate everything I'm writing. The important thing is to keep writing, because you'll be pushing yourself towards the next important plot point or you'll discover a new direction for your book that you hadn't considered before. Either way, when you're finished the book, then you can go back and get rid of the utterly useless scenes you're writing right now. Or you might discover that you love them, who knows.



I hope you enjoyed my take on these questions. Hopefully you guys have also been inspired like I've been to write frequently, even if it's just a little bit and even if you hate it. Because either way, you're writing and thats the important thing.
-A




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