Sounds of scribbling followed the little boy everywhere as he ferociously and naively penciled his comic books. Anywhere he went, his fake-leather folder-of-sorts followed him, and in it, his most recent work of art . . .
My story begins at such a young age that I can't tell you when it started. I've always enjoyed comic books, cartoons, fantasy worlds, pretending to be a teenage mutant ninja turtle in my backyard (Donatello, obviously, because while the others had actual metal weapons he beat people's asses with a stick). Just watching and reading wasn't enough, though. My (probably) seven-year-old self had to be the god of his own world, so he began making his own comic books... which I still have. He even made a Harry Potter Encyclopedia Magazine because who wouldn't?
I began the transition from comic books to writing over the time between my primary and secondary school time, and I have been writing for about four or five years now consistently. Before that, I'd write short stories here and there, sometimes entering them in competitions. Two years ago I entered a short story competition, in fact, and haven't entered any since. I was shortlisted in the top twenty in that competition, out of thousands of entries, and though it may not seem like much I am quite proud of that accomplishment.
My first unfinished novel was one I posted on a blog, chapter by chapter. I actually built up a small following until I deleted the blog and decided to scrap the idea. Why? Because throughout the few months that I'd written those odd 30k words, my writing abilities, understanding of grammar, and thoughts on vampires changed massively, all for the better. Then, my second unfinished novel, also around 30k, was written during NaNoWriMo 2011, I believe. It was about werewolves (are you seeing my the blatant influence of the popular books at said time yet?), and I can't even remember if I ever knew where that story was going... The next novel I wrote was because of NanoWrimo (2012), again. I wrote around 25k in that month, then left it on the shelf to gather dust with the others. Then, about six months later, I took it down, dusted it off, and wrote the rest of it in a session of Camp NaNoWriMo. I didn't want to finish the novel, but I felt I owed it to myself for some reason. It, however, will never be looked at again, due to the fact it's basically set in the world of an already-published book.
Since that time, my ideas have taken on their own original worlds and characters. I guess I was writing fan-fiction in a way until that time I finished my first novel. But I still say I have yet to complete my first original novel. I have started and abandoned half a dozen ideas by now, all given up at around the 30,000 word mark. The reason for this is I have yet to find a way through that lull I get at that halfway mark.
That's a goal for this.
I am starting a brand new novel at the start of this brand new year, so my goal is to finish it by the end of the year. It's not a big goal, one novel in a year. And I'm not even aiming for a big word count, but I want to finish. After I finish, then I'll focus on it actually being good and venture into the world of re-writes and edits. But, for now, I'm still enjoying to slightly newbie version of writing that involves just laying it on a page.
The idea for this blog is to record our writing journey over the next year. My fellow writers on this blog and I are really excited to be able to share this adventure with everyone on the internet, because maybe we can inspire or encourage other young writers by doing this. I know when I'm in a down writery mood, and I see a post of another writer speaking of their passion, I get stoked and head straight to Word. So, I hope this blog helps you guys.
Next week, I'll be talking about my new novel and I'm sure it'll explain this title.
~Sam
I began the transition from comic books to writing over the time between my primary and secondary school time, and I have been writing for about four or five years now consistently. Before that, I'd write short stories here and there, sometimes entering them in competitions. Two years ago I entered a short story competition, in fact, and haven't entered any since. I was shortlisted in the top twenty in that competition, out of thousands of entries, and though it may not seem like much I am quite proud of that accomplishment.
My first unfinished novel was one I posted on a blog, chapter by chapter. I actually built up a small following until I deleted the blog and decided to scrap the idea. Why? Because throughout the few months that I'd written those odd 30k words, my writing abilities, understanding of grammar, and thoughts on vampires changed massively, all for the better. Then, my second unfinished novel, also around 30k, was written during NaNoWriMo 2011, I believe. It was about werewolves (are you seeing my the blatant influence of the popular books at said time yet?), and I can't even remember if I ever knew where that story was going... The next novel I wrote was because of NanoWrimo (2012), again. I wrote around 25k in that month, then left it on the shelf to gather dust with the others. Then, about six months later, I took it down, dusted it off, and wrote the rest of it in a session of Camp NaNoWriMo. I didn't want to finish the novel, but I felt I owed it to myself for some reason. It, however, will never be looked at again, due to the fact it's basically set in the world of an already-published book.
Since that time, my ideas have taken on their own original worlds and characters. I guess I was writing fan-fiction in a way until that time I finished my first novel. But I still say I have yet to complete my first original novel. I have started and abandoned half a dozen ideas by now, all given up at around the 30,000 word mark. The reason for this is I have yet to find a way through that lull I get at that halfway mark.
That's a goal for this.
I am starting a brand new novel at the start of this brand new year, so my goal is to finish it by the end of the year. It's not a big goal, one novel in a year. And I'm not even aiming for a big word count, but I want to finish. After I finish, then I'll focus on it actually being good and venture into the world of re-writes and edits. But, for now, I'm still enjoying to slightly newbie version of writing that involves just laying it on a page.
The idea for this blog is to record our writing journey over the next year. My fellow writers on this blog and I are really excited to be able to share this adventure with everyone on the internet, because maybe we can inspire or encourage other young writers by doing this. I know when I'm in a down writery mood, and I see a post of another writer speaking of their passion, I get stoked and head straight to Word. So, I hope this blog helps you guys.
Next week, I'll be talking about my new novel and I'm sure it'll explain this title.
~Sam
No comments:
Post a Comment