Tuesday, May 7, 2013

PLANNING TO WRITE FICTION?

A YOUNG friend asked me: Sir, I always want to write fiction books. It's been burning in me every minute since 2011. How best can you help me achieve my goal?"
And here is my (edited) response to the question.

1. START WRITING
Find an exercise book or notebook and start penning your stories. They do not have to be complete but start anyway. Afterwards, use a computer or laptop and start typing. As you start these exercises, more ideas will gradually come to you. Every day we think of nice ideas (or possible plots) but if we do not pen them, we lose them.
I am happy to hear about your desire.

2. MY EXPERIENCE
I have worked on a number of longer stories. When I find time, I shall complete at least two of them.
I have had a number of short stories and poems published in Independent (no longer in operation) back in 2000, 2001 and 2002. (For most of them, I used a pen-name to write. I was not paid for any of those though.)
I have good plans coming up. I am happy for your show of interest and will let you know about some of my plans in the future.

3. JOIN A GROUP TO SHARE YOUR WORK
Join a group to bounce your ideas around or learn from others who have learned elsewhere – or are a bit more experienced.
I am a member of Pacific Indigenous Writers, a place in Facebook where we post tips, stories and poetry. It is a small group but it helps you share some of your ideas and lessons.
Earlier this year, I have posted a number of tips in PIW on Practical Tips For Writing Popular Fiction. The tips come from a book by a New York Times bestselling author. (She topped a category two weeks ago – and I had the book with me since 1994.) Check for the tips in PIW and use them.


Photo: Your book might find its way to my shelf in a few years time.

4. THE REMEDY FOR YOUR BURNING
For a start, find a notebook and just jot down your ideas. It could be interesting (or much more interesting) than reading a book.
When there is a burning in you, the best remedy is to pick up a paper and write.

5.  WRITING CAN BE LONELY
In PIW we try to motivate one another while working on our projects.
Writing, like the carver's craft (or any other craft), is a “lonely” one. But in having like-minded people, who can comment on pieces you post (as in PIW), can be fuel to move you forward in this craft.
The possibilities for those who write could include putting out short stories, poetry, novels, scripts for movies or plays, etc. (Nothing is impossible.)

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. I'll do something. Long burned to write and did roughly. Got too busy and miss writing. Lonely is right in a world of nonwriters who do not understand the drive to make notes and assemble them, or the need for encouragement.

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  2. You're welcome Fredwrites. I wrote these pointers after a young friend, an English teacher, expressed his wish to write fiction. Another (following this post elsewhere) expressed his desire to be a writer. But then, the first step to becoming a writer is to WRITE NOW ... where you are and on what you have - a notebook, a paper, or as in the case of others, a blog. More stuff on writing will be posted soon.

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