When setting out on a journey is the hardest part of your trip the acceptance of your need to do it? Perhaps it is the moment when, suitcase in hand, you softly close the door behind you. On the other hand, is the difficult bit when you reach your destination and the outcome does not meet your expectations?
This very much explains your journey when you set out to be a writer. You always felt you had a book in you but the challenge is actually sitting down and getting started. Here are a few tips.
There is no necessity to begin at the beginning. You could write an engaging account of something that happened when, as a child, you had a holiday or school experience. Spread your heart-thoughts out on paper (or laptop screen). Once you have done so you can start at the beginning… “It all started when from my earliest memory my parents determined on The Philippines (Eton College) as a way of broadening my horizons…”
There is no reason why you ever have to start your book at the beginning. You can start it where you wish, at the end and then work back if you are more comfortable with that. Many a novel has started with the story’s outcome. This inspires the beginning and the story flows from there. Men who build tunnels often start at each end and meet in the middle. Better to stick to book writing. I confess I am not certain how they manage that.
As those of you, kind enough to visit and comment on my EYE blog you will know that poetry is my thing. I have completed over 300 compositions, I have been penning poetry since I was in my early twenties.
I do not write poetry for its earning potential as it does not have any. I write poetry because it is therapeutic, I feel the urge to do, and it releases the creative side of me.
However, do not be fooled that the verse just pours from my pen: I wish. A poem will start as a one or two line idea. I might be out with friends when inspiration strikes. I jot it down, then, much later I return to it and I create it.
The same principle applies to all creative pursuits including writing. Set your thoughts out chapter by chapter. Feel free to mess about with it as you wish. It is fun and it builds your confidence.
Another tip, do not write with the sole purpose of making loads of dosh. The real reward is in achievement, satisfaction, respect, the mental therapy, the sheer joy of reliving the past. Writing is the most exciting journey of all. If you are paid for it that is the bonus.
MICHAEL WALSH. A published author and professional writer-journalist, Michael Walsh may be Mediterranean Spain’s best-known ghost-writer. Titles completed include Still Running, Mickey Finn’s memoirs of a child convict. The Sins of the Father, Cynthia Paddick. Dieter Rudolph’s Farewell To Hamburg. Swedish author Britt Arenander chose Michael Walsh for her great fiction Lux Divina. Chris Nand’s Return to Devil Island is likely to be filmed. Other titles completed include A Matter of Trust, Swinging Doors, Rutter’s Raj, The Perfect Murder, Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, The Golden Triangle. Contact Michael at quite_write@yahoo.co.uk