This sometimes leads to reading more books (go ahead, pick up another one dang it!), and sometimes it stays in your brain, torturing you at night as you think about that perfect little hobbit hole you just read about, or the two mile-high bridge built in the clouds from that one book.
This
is the work of your imagination, something every person should be as
familiar with. You should be as close to your imagination as your
privates are to your underpants. Seriously, exercise it every chance
you get (your imagination that is). There is something so wonderful
about our ability to rise above our current surroundings and find a
new world in our own brains. We are a creative species; it is only
natural.
For
years I would do just as I described above, lay awake at night in
bed, thinking about the Redwall book I just read, thinking about
running with The Long Patrol, or walking calmly through Rivendell
in The Lord of the Rings. The things that came from
wonderful authors such as Tolkien, Jordan, and Rowling ignited my
heart and mind.
At
some point you, like me, might find the day dreams too persistent
(and dare I say, unfulfilling?) to simply pick up another book in an
attempt to satisfy your need (sounds a little like a coke habit
doesn't it? But I have a feeling that most of you know what I'm
talking about). One day the itch to write down or sketch (for those
of you who were wondering, yes, many writers start with a dinky
little map doodled on a napkin) out an idea drives your sweaty palms
to the paper (or keyboard for you who were born post 1990).
Most
of us fail horribly and embarrassingly at our first attempts, as
awkward as a freckle-faced ginger at his first high school dance. The
words flop from our fingers like a trout that thinks it can stroll up
the bank. Perhaps the travesty-on-paper survives for a day or so, or
like the trout above that won't die, some may even last creepily into
weeks. Don't be afraid. Bash it's head in with a stick. Go for it.
Then cast your line and try to catch another. (Am I taking the trout
analogy too far?)
The
worst thing you can do is give up (well, worst after not starting at
all). Seriously, quitting is for losers. If the first ugly step-child
you put on paper isn't worth keeping, send it out for adoption and
get a new kid. Start out fresh. Teach this one all the qualities you
wish the other one had. Don't be afraid to keep trying. (And
no, I stopped talking about real children after the first reference.
Keep your gingers, please. They are people too.)
Bottom
line is this: Don't be afraid. Really. That's it. If you are smart
enough to read and want more, you are smart enough to write. You
won't be good at first (heavens, I was as horrible as a cherry-sized
nose pimple on the first day of eighth grade, and I still have a lot
to learn), but who is? Your favorite authors probably hid their first
novels in a shoe box under the bed, and rightly so.
The
first step is to sit down and think, "what excites me?"
(Try to keep that in context. Though, if your goal is erotic slash
fiction, go for it. I suppose.) Then explore that; take your
idea and step back. Examine it like a sixth grader examines the
latest issue of Cosmo in the grocery line. Then begin fleshing it
out. Do you have a character that won't leave your brain? How bout a
kick@ss setting and magic system? Write it down!
Don't
be afraid to explore. (Just make sure you practice fire safety when
you burn the inhuman results of your first try.)
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