Today I tried to write. I got as far as a pretty random poem (not even I know what it means, and I wrote the thing).
Power lies with giving, not receipt.
To be taken, stolen, the power lies waiting.
Perhaps a final piece left to retain,
your own kept power, secret power,
stifled, released from its sleeping master.
It lies with its possessor, its captor, it’s thief in the night.
Not a long one, and not particularly good one either. I want to write a story but I have no real idea where to start. I did a module of The Short Story at University but, although I did enjoy it, I didn’t exactly follow the regular patterns for writing. I thought I knew better than the teacher (which I still think is true) however, I do concede that I still should have paid more attention. Possibly it would have come in useful at this point in time.
There are a few reasons behind my wanting to write a longer piece.
* I was having a discussion recently with someone who shared my opinion on drafting. Now this being rare in itself, I was rather pleased. He then proceeded to tell me that I must be a “proper writer” because I didn’t feel any need to draft my work. It was nice to hear to be honest. I have no qualms with people that do draft their work; I personally think there is little distinction between writers that do and ones that don’t, it’s simply a different way of working. I do, however, have problems with people that tell me I can’t be a writer if I don’t draft. But it’s the “proper writer” comment that threw me; I feel a little bit fraudulent, calling myself a writer when I can’t even write a story, and, even worse, haven’t really written anything creative in months.
* Second reason is that I want to challenge myself. I’m much too set in my ways for someone so young and I shouldn’t limit myself to one style of writing. If I am as decent a writer as I like to think I am then I should be able to write anything. I won’t necessarily write it well but at least I will have tried.
* I need something to do. I need some pure focus in my life that does not revolve around making sure I’ve watched this week’s episode of Glee. I should really try and be more well rounded in my interests and activities.
* Eventually, I have an epic poem that I would like to write. It has been started but, unfortunately, after having being left for many years (I think I begun it in 2005), I’m finding it very difficult to pick it back up again. I think starting on something like a novel length (god help me) piece of fiction will help me get over my I-have-to-finish-everything-in-one-go mindset.
So, at the moment, those are my reasons. Any suggestions for getting started, very welcome (not that I really believe anyone reads this) and hopefully, once I’ve got the ball rolling, I’ll update with some actual, possibly truly terrible, pieces of writing.
