15 Things I've Learned About Writing Fiction During The Past Decade

“People say, ‘What advice do you have for people who want to be writers?’ I say, they don’t really need advice, they know they want to be writers, and they’re gonna do it. Those people who know that they really want to do this and are cut out for it, they know it.”
R.L. Stine

First things first

Welcome if you're new here. I sent out a couple of invites to join my Facebook platform recently and just about everyone accepted. Like, wow! Thank you very much!

Writer's journey

I've been writing stories since I can remember.

My love of words started with poetry and I clearly remember my Gr 3 teacher, Mrs Zimmerman, complimenting my aptitude for rhyming on my annual report card. I don't remember those poems (I was only 9-years-old) or do I have that report card anymore, but I can tell you one thing: not a week goes by in my life during which I don't write. 

Writing poetry and short stories is incredibly fulfilling. But man, let me tell you, writing books is beastly.

What I have to show for the past decade, since I started writing my first novel in 2010, is two unpublished manuscripts. The first is called Supernova, an 80,000-word YA Paranormal about a girl who finds out her father is an alien from a planet where dragons roam - third person narrative. The second is a nearly completed unpublished MS titled Scatterlings, Magical Realism genre for adults and its theme revolves around the consequences of over-domestication and suppressing the wild feminine - first person narrative. Let me tell you, the latter is my jam and I suspect this is why I've struggled with Supernova for so long. 

I'm busy plotting Pulsar and Nebula, the follow-ups to Supernova. Pondering if I should switch over to first person narrative or even multiple narrator first person. I started submitting Supernova to agents on 21 September and have thus far received 8/31 responses/rejections. That's how it goes. 

15 Things I've learned about writing fiction during the past decade: 

1. writing in the first person is significantly easier than third person narration 
2. magical realism is easier to plot out than paranormal (with its plethora of sub-plots in my case)
3. trilogies are tough because of the over-arching plot intricacies (Supernova will be my first and last trilogy for sure)
4. my procrastination mainly comes from of self-doubt
5. I've never suffered from writer's block
6. writing is a labour of love
7. there's always a plot of some sort brewing in my head no matter where I am or what I'm busy with
8. the antagonist's motivation is just as important as the antagonist's (think Harry Potter)
9. reading fiction helps build vocabulary, strengthens grammar and syntax, teaches me about character motivation, dialogue structure, world-building, conflict, plot, pacing - basically shows me how its done without having to study three years towards a degree
10. reading and writing poetry sparks creativity
11. music sets mood
12. it took hundreds if not thousands of writing hours to find my own voice and be confident with it
13. my MS might be rejected because the market is saturated with similar books
14. without maturing and the life experiences that come with adulting I wouldn't have been able to write convincingly
15. trying to write fiction at home while raising a toddler is like trying to milk a cow while it's jumping on a trampoline

Other Updates

• Website - not up yet. Delays due to having all the end-of-year feels already. Our Christmas tree is already up.
• Supernova beta readers - waiting on the last two to report back.
• Next speculative fiction project for adults - plotting post-apocalyptic dystopian set in South Africa as we speak

And that's all folks.

Thanks for the support. 

Till next time.

EL