Have you ever had a cool story in your head and wanted to see it come to life?
Maybe you’ve even started to write one, just for fun, but it seemed so impossible? Well, I’m going to tell you that it is very much so possible to bring a story of your own to life and share it with others! I just published my first fantasy novel: “Amora: A Tale of Two Brothers.”
Fiction is an amazing thing. We live in a world bound by rules: gravity, time, law and order. However, fiction frees us from what we already know, perceive and understand. With fiction, and writing for that matter, we can create new meanings, new laws and new understandings.
For me, it all started a couple years back. I have always been a huge fan of fantasy and science fiction, both in books and movies. They offered me an outlet to a world that was so different from my own. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, you name it, I was interested in it! However, I began to want more, I wanted to do better, I wanted to create my own story, my way. So I started writing on a simple Google Doc.
What happened to me is something that may happen to many aspiring writers. They start, they get a few thousand words in (if that), then they’re not sure what to do or where to go. I revised the beginning of my book countless times before I came to a satisfying result, and even then, I’m still not sure it’s perfect. The best advice I can give is to make a plan and proceed not to go with it!
The true hurdle of writing a story and even a book is breaking past your initial writer's block. Once you know you can overcome it, and develop a strategy to do so, nothing can stop you! For me, I devised a method of dividing off chapters into sections that were around the same length and thus manageable. They also allowed me to switch perspectives and not get burnt out on the same story arc in any period of time. Even so, it can still become easy to feel lost.
The truth is, a good story begins to guide itself, which is something that I quickly found. My linear storyline with countless clichés and generic scenes began to grow more complex and unique as I continued to write. When I would look back, I would begin to notice all of the connections that I didn’t see before or intend to create. Nonetheless, those connections are there, and like that, the story evolves itself.
Every aspiring writer should have faith in themselves. It’s not a question of “can” you do it, it’s a question of “when?” For some of us, the answer is “tomorrow,” which seems to never come. Everyone has a story and a unique perspective to bring to the table. My characters are unique because I integrated different parts of my personality into them; from that, they become living beings with their own thoughts, feelings, and actions. I simply write them on paper; they develop themselves.
Maybe you have a story, maybe you have a character to create. It’s never too early or too late, and I urge you to give it a whirl! You may find it to be an enlightening experience much like I have. The worst case scenario is you expressed yourself on paper. Best case scenario, you publish it and express yourself to the world. It’s your choice, an entire world awaits!