I used to hate writing fiction. Short story, outlines, characters - I hated all of it. There was absolutely nothing about it that I found appealing. It was one of the reasons I hated English class in high school.
But then when I was doing my Media Foundations certificate at Humber, we had to take a class on writing. We couldn't get out of it. Most of the assignments weren't too crazy: book reviews, essays, news stories. And finally, there was the dreaded assignment: a short story.
Of course, I hated this assignment. Hated it. But I sat down to write it. And apparently I just couldn't stop - I wrote 1200 words over the limit. So after cutting and cutting and more editing, I handed it in.
When I got it back, I was not only surprised buy the 95% I got on it, but by the teacher's suggestion that I submit it to some contest and write more.
Really?? Me?? Write fiction?? Well, what an interesting idea.
Since then, I've been writing stories. For the longest time I wrote short stories; they were maybe 1500 words or so each. But then I decided I should write something longer. And I've been working on some for a while now.
The problem isn't coming up with the idea - I have tons of those. It's not even creating characters - I can do those pretty easily too. The problem is that I get bored and start a new one. The problem is that my attention span isn't long enough to finish one story. Currently I'm working on (as in writing the story, not just planning) a few: In The Midst Of Lies, which is a crime thriller; a fan fiction story; a story that Wikipedia tells me is considered 'high fantasy'; and random short stories.
I have tons of characters in my head, and they all want to come out and tell me their story. I just can't find the right mix of things - setting, plot, and characters - to make the story work properly.
I also try to plan out the story too much, I think, and I end up changing what I started with. It also happens often that I start writing and the story changes as I go and it ruins the carefully researched outline. Sometimes, though, I start writing with no idea of who the characters are, what the story is, or even what the next sentence will be!! These are often pretty good, either for short stories or to build on.
I do love the planning part: creating characters, coming up with plots and twists and secrets, creating worlds. I love it. I could plan book after book after book and never write anything. Really, I have a shit-ton of characters amd creatures and plot ideas and locations and research.
Have I mentioned that I absolutely LOVE research?? I wish I could find a job as a researcher. I'd love to research all day, every day. That would be freaking incredible. If someone knows of a research job, please let me know. It'd make me so happy!!
Anyways, so I think I've got a story right now that might work out. At least, it's looking pretty interesting. Hopefully I'll be able to stick to it and actually write it all. The story I see in my head is kinda awesome.
Writing fiction has become an escape for me. when life gets to stressful or crazy or sad, I write a better world or an awesome adventure. I don't think I write with the idea of submitting my book anywhere, I just like to write. Then again, if I finish, and I think I've written the best damn story there ever was, well, then I may just have to look around. Maybe one day you'll see my name while walking through Chapters!! Wouldn't that be awesome??
That would be the best thing to ever happen in the history of all things that ever happened.
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