I've Written Some Stories

I find it funny and strange if anyone refers to me as an author or a writer. Yes, I have written five books, so technically speaking this might be true but it is not really a label that I apply to myself. If you were to ask me what I have done, I would say that I have “written some stories.” That is probably the extent of my opinion on what I have done.

Isn't this how every author/writer starts out? I would assume so.

I have recently been reading Stephen King’s book On Writing. It is part memoir, part instruction manual and partly a passing of advice. I’m not really one for biographies and memoirs. I have only ever read three biographies in my life. (Brian Cranston’s A Life in Parts, Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights and Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.) King talks about how he got into writing, how he formed the idea for the book Carrie, and, quite surprisingly, how he did not like the titular character. I won't go into the finer details of the book or what happened next. That is for you to do if/when you read it.

I started reading the book after it had been mentioned to me by a friend who is a big Stephen King fan. My main reason was because of a mental block that I currently have regarding my own writing. It is simply a case of too many things to do and not enough time to do them. I don't have the necessary focus and attention to put to my next book right now. I will get back round to it, I know I will.

One thing that I did discover, however, is something that King mentions in On Writing. Paraphrasing his view on it, he says that you need to be consistent with your writing. Set time aside to write every day. Only in doing so will you keep the story and the characters fresh and alive in your head. If you leave it too long between visits to the keyboard then the story becomes a chore, a job, something that is hanging over you. I have certainly found this to be true.

He also mentioned that, when starting a story, he has the premise or a scenario for a story rather than the story itself. He lets the characters and the situation dictate how things play out. When I wrote The Wrong Apocalypse, I was in full flow writing it. I didn't have a story. I had a premise. It was a premise I’d had years before, before I even started writing, actually, but with everything going on with The Pandemic, it seemed quite relevant.

In a roundabout way, this is how I have written most of my books. I have had, maybe, the odd one or two set pieces that I would hope to hit, but only if it worked for the story. If it didn't make sense, then it didn't happen. (Actually, there is one set piece that I squished in somewhere, but I’m not saying where.) When I wrote Isaac’s Fall, it started with a series of questions. Those questions had answers but also led to more questions. A narrative starts to form. Cause and effect.

If I were to explain it in another way, a very simple yet nerdy way, it’s kind of like rolling a ball down a hill. The ball is your story. The hill is your scenario. With all of its bumps and dips, the hill will dictate the path the ball will take. If you need something to change the direction of the ball/story, then you will need to bring in something extra to do so, but this needs to feel natural and believable.

That’s what I have learned so far, at least. And to be honest, I don't want to go into it any further because, as I have stated, I don't consider myself a writer or an author, just someone who has written some stories. (My wife tells me off for this opinion.)

Thank you for reading this post. If you’re interested, checkout my author page on Amazon to see the books I have written. They are fun reading.