Getting Started Is The Hardest Part
I am ashamed by how proficient I have become at wasting time. It’s staggering. I can sit down at my work station to research something [ by research I mean Google (as a verb) ], and by the time I realize I’m doing it again, hours have passed, my shoulder is sore and my feet are numb from sitting cross-legged in my desk chair. Bad habit, I know. Ironically, all of my techno-gadgets and software are theoretically supposed to streamline and focus my work flow. Yea—not so much… not when there are so many social media channels to check, videos to watch and emails to read. Digital distractions abound.
Lately, I have poured myself into publishing my book, BLACKOUT, and building a platform I can use to promote it. So, I have given myself a pass for how little effort I have devoted to starting my next book. I haven’t even decided if I’ll write another “Thriller” or try my hand at something else. “Supernatural Horror Tale” has a nice ring to it! I am currently undecided and will share my thoughts on the subject as they form. So, if any of this interests you, stick around and watch as I sit down to my computer and open a vein…
Do You Want To Know About Writing?
I suspect that most readers fall closer to “I couldn’t care less” than “OMG—I must have every last detail” on the topic of “How stories are written.” Not that it’s any great mystery. Matt Clemens, one of the first professional writers to befriend me, told me to P-Y-B-I-A-C-A-S-W… Plant Your Butt In A Chair And Start Writing! Probably the single most honest and helpful piece of advice ever given to a writer. Writers write. That’s how stories get written. Authors have been debating the advantages and drawbacks of careful plotting versus unplanned writing for centuries. Some like to write first drafts longhand, while others use modern word processors and edit as they type. There are probably as many approaches to writing as there are writers. All I have to share is a little bit of what works for me, and a whole lot of what doesn’t.
Many readers are not interested in how stories are written. I get it. Their thought process goes something like… “We love sausage, but we don’t want to see it being made. If you write good stories for us, we will read them.” Works for me, especially the part where you read my stories! Other readers may be genuinely interested in the writing process. Maybe you’re a budding writer or maybe you are just curious. Either way, you’re welcome to hang out and follow along as I write my next story.
FYI, if you fall closer to the “Tell me more” end of the “How stories are written” spectrum, I will continue to post this kind of content to the “In Development” category of my blog. Other categories, like “Recommended Reading”, “Interviews With Other Authors” and “Stranger Than Fiction” are currently in development and should come online over the coming weeks.
Be well,
M. J. Murdy
