Bisky's Twitterling's Scribbles! discussion
All Things Writing
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Why did you start writing?
I started writing simple because it was there. I wrote because I my heart beat. I remember i had to write a paragraph for english and include five specific words. I somehow wrote a five pageshort story and had to go back and add the words in. Writing flowed for me. It was as natural as breathing and was never a concious choice. Aside from that short story i wrote poetry until 2012, when i started with another short story and moved onto a novel.
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There are many reasons. I started out writing poetry and short stories because I had all these pent up emotions inside. It was the only way I knew of to get them out.As I moved on to short stories, I found the instinct to create overpowering. That's when I chose to write a series of novels.
I kept having these dreams about characters in this dismal world where technology had run amok. But even there, love always seems to find a way.
Granted, the good guys don't always win the battle. But when two people find happiness in such a dark place, it's a win no matter what.
Okay now I'm rambling. I'll shut up now. :-)
I had characters in my head that would not shut the &^%$ up.
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"Well then I'll be the first," I replied laughing and the next day I started writing.
So as you see, it was kind of on the spur of the moment. For as long as I remember I always like to make up stories in my mind when I couldn't sleep at night. So the ideas were all there. All it needed was to be put on paper.
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@Nicole lol
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When I was three years old, I would scribble colors and my mom would ask me what stories went with them. I would make things up, and she would write them down, then staple my illustrations and words together to make a "book." I started writing that way and didn't really stop until I hit college. Then I got too angsty, depressed, and busy. Now I am 25 years old and starting to write again after a hiatus of seven years. It feels wonderful to reclaim this part of my childhood identity.
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@BiskyConfession:
I secretly wish I had some of the technology I write about. So much so, I've spent a considerable amount of time thinking of how we could pull some of it off with today’s technology, then I get depressed when I realize it just isn't possible yet.
If it were available, how many of you would opt for a surgical implant in your brain that would let you connect yourself to the internet or any computer? You could type with but a thought, surf the web in 3D and actually feel, taste, hear, and touch things like you were really there?
And don't even get me started on nanotechnology. I have grandiose hopes and dreams for those little buggers. :)
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You haven't told us what were yours!
I have the wildest imagination and I have these stories that just start brewing in my brain. Then it's like they get too big to be contained and I feel like I have to write them out of my head, onto paper, or my head will just simply explode.I get what Nicole said because that happens to me too and the only way to quieten my characters down is to write them into life.
I also think I love to write so that I can escape reality for a while. I'm a sensitive soul and the world often seems overly brutal to me. Writing creates a place of refuge, where my soul can recuperate and become whole again. It allows me to strengthen emotionally and in so doing I'm able to face the real world again :))
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@Willow My posts are long dont worry lol that sounds like an amazing journey.
@G.g I didnt want to post until I was asked, i shall post now :] its ognna be long! lol
@Marina I really believe that <3
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When I was 14 I felt I had practiced enough to try to write my first full novel. I had three outlines and fleshed one out to about 50,000 words.
But unfortunately some bad things started to happen to me. And when you get weak, people sense your vulnerability. One of my fleshed outlines was stolen, and I was too weak to do anything about it. It killed my writing muse that I had worked so hard to get. I stopped writing and reading and resented all literature. I ignored writing, going into study art and draw in my spare time. It's not something I regret, I'm good at it. I even planned out a flash animation series I want to release when I find the right partner to help.
But things got more intense and I think creativity leaves you alone with your thoughts too much and I just gave up most of my endeavours to focus on science.
Things didn't really get better at Uni. I had no friends, and was constantly alone. But for some reason I had the urge to write again sitting amongst all those book by myself in the library. I wrote a detailed plan for a YA Fantasy (will be my 5th self published book) but I wasn't able to 'write' there the dark place was just far too near. So when I dropped out, I just ignored it again.
When I moved in with my Viking. I started again, I felt like moving away from England and all the bad things that happened was the push I needed. But I still wasn't very happy in myself, better, but not the best. I started Vermillion. Fleshing out the first few chapters, But after I met my best friend a year ago (she's on our youtube channel) Vermillion was suddenly finished in 6 months.
I suddenly remembered everything. How to write, and once Vermillion was done I realised how easy it was for me to get the word counts down when I was happy. But after all those rejections I decided that I should do an eBook.
So I started up Bisky Scribbles. My writings not out yet, but so far people seem to like what they have read :3
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I can't imagine what you've been through. It seems the worst was not even the theft of your story since you were already down, and yet I still can't imagine how painful just that in itself would be to begin with. I guess those awful people helped built up your character and whom you've become, which is a pretty darn brave and clever woman. :)
Good for you! (Still, I hope they pay for the pain they've done to you.)
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I don't wish anyhting bad on them really. They got the rewards and the acclaim for writing it at the time. But I know I'll have my own time :]
If my stuff was worth stealing at 16 it must be worth something now :P
Though I still have alittle paranoia they'll find me here lol
It's something I'm compelled to do; writing, though it wasn't always that way. Above anything, I enjoy a well told story. Whether in books, games or in film, I hunger for that next fantasy in which I can escape, even if only for awhile. As I prepare to enter a new story, and shortly after finishing my last, I find myself thinking; "What if..."
Even though I enjoyed the experience, I wonder what would happen if the the story had gone a different direction. What if the protagonist hadn't found that important clue, would he/she have been able to solve the mystery and save the day? What if the antagonist wasn't an overpowered, hyper-intelligent nemesis, but rather, an ambitious fool with connections?
I could go on. I'm sure you can think of endless examples, but that's the point. I'm not always satisfied by the experience, and thus the compulsion to write.
It's not just a mindless need, either.
I've found that there's nothing like watching one's story unfolding before them. Most times when I'm writing, I'm lost with-in the world beneath my fingertips. I've become a part of it, while my body autonomously creates it from the outside. But there are those moments of clarity where I'm watching, almost in a third person state if you will, myself typing the story that's unfolding.
It's a feeling I've become addicted to, a hunger I need to satiate and come hell or high water; before I am able to end each day I must become the literary vampire, feeding on the stories in my mind and creating more of my little children to share with the world.
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One night I was with my buddy Anthony contemplating my existence as one is often apt to do after their fourth or fifth pitcher of beer on a Monday night at a sports bar while not really watching the Monday Night Football game that was going on, which probably meant the Raiders were playing, and losing, as the often do. I'd come to realize I was at the point that I wasn't going to make it into the movie business, because I've never really tried acting, I was too entrenched into directing cable TV commercials to make the leap to movies, and I was feeling overly happy with the amount of money I was making, so I made the monumental decision to go a different rout as I turned to my buddy Anthony and said, "Dude! I'm going to be writer..." He took another deep drink from his pitcher, while I drank from mine, and then he nodded and said, "Cool". My reasoning at the time was that I've always enjoyed reading, I have a degree in English Lit., there is no age limit on writers, and I wasn't really enjoying a lot of what I was reading at the time, which left me continually thinking the same thought that drives many of us towards the writing profession, 'I can do better than this'. And with that I started writing, and within six weeks had my first novel done. I was encouraged by the girl I was going out with at the time, Laura, who dutifully read the chapters I was churning out on a nightly basis, and told my how interesting it was. Now after I was finished I was going to run out and find an agent, but before I did I read back through everything I'd just written, and found that it really wasn't as good as I thought it was. So then I started the re-writes... six years later, I finally had it at a point I thought was good enough for agents, but they roundly rejected me, so I found a good editor, and self-published it, still thinking it was better than many other novels I've suffered through.
Bisky wrote: "Was it an urge?Was it a book you read that made you say, I can do better?
Is there a family connection?
I'd like to know :]"
For me, it was RL Stines' Goosebumps that made me want to create characters and storylines. I handwrote my first story when I was in third grade and haven't looked back since.
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@David Goosebumps! :D
What made me start writing?I picked up a pencil.
I never really thought about why I enjoyed it.
I became much more serious about my writing after my father passed away. It was an outlet for me. A way to feel without feeling and distance myself from my situation.
As a result, I finished my first novel when I was sixteen. I had started many before then, but sixteen is when I wrote a full-length novel from start to finish.
I have been writing pretty much nonstop since then. I write the stories I want to read, but never see in bookstores.
@Rick
Interesting story!
For as long as I can remember, I've written stories and poetry. As a child and teenager, I always wanted to be an author when I grew up. I worked at a proper job for 17 years before jumping out of real life, starting a creative writing degree. I joined Twitter, had my novel edited and now I've self-published 3 books and am working on 4 more. I work as an editor and copywriter and am living the dream :).
I loved to read as a kid and the writing just seemed like the best way to express my own ideas. Then High School came along and I got an English teacher who stomped on me constantly, so I said screw it and stopped. I used my creativity to write music instead and then after a while I was drawn back into writing. It started with a roleplaying game that I created with two friends. Fromt he game came ideas...which morphed into short stories and then longer stories. And then I moved to the US. Booo. No more shared world stories. Then I was working the nightshift, with some slack time and found myself jotting down ideas for new stories. Eventually the writing started flowing again. I'm nowhere near as talented as a lot of the writers I have been fortunate to bump into through social media, but I'm learning and hoping to one day be able to write for a living. I write because I feel this need to get the ideas out. Even if they're just for me...or a couple of my friends. In fact, my first book was more for myself than anyone else...and then I read about Amazon's competition and I thought - why not?
Life has interuppted me in a big way this year, but I'm hopeful 2014 will be a good writing year. :)
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@Gareth, Teachers suck! When I was working night shift last year I thought of a whole novel, strange how it does that. Gotta love tedious work :p I hope you get to complete your novel soon enough! :D
Gareth wrote: "I loved to read as a kid and the writing just seemed like the best way to express my own ideas. Then High School came along and I got an English teacher who stomped on me constantly, so I said scre..."I disagree! I've read some of your work and it's fantastic. You are a very talented writer :).
Dionne wrote: "Gareth wrote: "I loved to read as a kid and the writing just seemed like the best way to express my own ideas. Then High School came along and I got an English teacher who stomped on me constantly,..."Thank you Dionne! I appreciate that. :)
Gareth wrote: "Dionne wrote: "Gareth wrote: "I loved to read as a kid and the writing just seemed like the best way to express my own ideas. Then High School came along and I got an English teacher who stomped on..."My pleasure :) Credit where it's due ;).
At a young age I loved making up stories. It could have something to do with being an only child. This was one way I entertained myself. When I came of age, maybe a little older, but still an adolescent, I realized that writing was something I was good at. I don't know of anyone in my family that writes. My mother was an artist who exposed me to creative stuff and I guess that's where my love for writing spawns from. For years I've kept my writing hidden from others. I was afraid to share it until now.
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@Valerie - I entertained myself by creating stories, too, but in my case I think it's because I'm not much of an outgoing person. xD It's great to come out into the open. :3 I'm very secluded with my writing, too, but starting to be more open.
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It was more of a dream for me. I could go on, about background, school life, but at the end of day, I always felt that it was my calling, that I was supposed to write and produce (books/film). And I've been on that journey ever since 6th grade.
Oh wait...and...Laura London, TERRY BROOKS and JOHANNA LINDSEY. I'm a fan of their books, especially the Shannara Family(T.Brooks) and the Mallory Family (J.Lindsey. These are some of the authors whose stories have touched me greatly.
R. wrote: "It's something I'm compelled to do; writing, though it wasn't always that way. Above anything, I enjoy a well told story. Whether in books, games or in film, I hunger for that next fantasy in whi..."Okay I'm new with how these replies work, so hopefully @R gets this. It seems to take back to the bottom of the comments even when you're replying to someone's comment. Oh well, I just really connected with your reply. GREAT post!
@BiskyYES he is. I wrote him twice in the mid-'90s, and he wrote me back, both times! No form letter, his actual hand scribbling treasured advice to me. I still have those puppies too. LOL. It was "Elfstones" that I fell in love with in grade school. Still have the same copy. Obsessed? Uh...a little. I'm still waiting for it to become a movie!
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I've always wondered why they havent been turned into movies yet
Great stories from a talented bunch. When I was 18 I suddenly had the urge to write a poem. I did. The irony is that is never liked poetry. I write a lot of poetry.
In fact, fiction is my favorite genre. I'd always wanted to write a book. Sat down in August, 2007 and wrote a messy ms. that still needs much work if it's even salvageable. But I learned my process for writing fiction. Some stories have followed.
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I was reading some wonderful books, that when I finished them left me feeling bereft. So, I thought why don't I create my own, then I can spend all the time I want to in that wonderful place. I love it, it's a complete pleasure never a chore
Right from when I was little I loved to read, this helped me greatly in the university as I was a student og ennglish, but not until I read a particular book, that was a literature text did I ever think I would be a writer. For the first time an author was able to pull me in more than any other authoer had ever done, I felt like I was a part of that book, just witnessing it all happen. That was when I thot about becoming a writer. But after school, things became somewhat difficult, I couldn't concentrate on my wanting to write, I actually started several stories then forgot about them. Later on it became hard finding a job, everyone was talking about learning one skill or the other, but I couldn't find something I was passionate about, enough to learn, I became depressed, lonely, I started lashing out at friends,I couldn't find things that interested me anymore. That's when I remembered my writing,I decided to be more serious about it more than ever, I started to read again, old books, look out for other writers, learn more about writing. This is what lifts me up now, its hard going through depression and writing. But its the greatest feeling when finally you can push through that depression and write!
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@Dolapp - It's difficult juggling writing and depression. I have similar struggles at times. But when I get really engaged in story-planning and my brain conjures something that clicks loudly, it bulldozes the depression off the cliff.
Writing isn't just a creative outlet, it's also a way to seek order within the chaos of your life. Anything and everything around you could be falling apart, but when you step up to the keyboard and start writing your suddenly in complete control of everything in the world you're creating. You want your character to have a perfect life, she will. You want your character to take up the sword of vengeance and smite down all that oppose her, she will. You want the sky to be purple, it is. The reality you create within your story can be your fantasy, your reality, or your nightmare, but whatever it is, it's yours to control. And that is one of the things I like best about writing, I control it, and if I want to take the people I don't like in my life and kill them off in my stories, I can do it without the threat of prosecution and the actual guilt of committing a crime. Plus I get to smile at those people in real life, knowing that they will forever be immortalized within the context of my story for the way they act towards me and everyone else.
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@Dolapp, writing leaves us alone with the darkest thoughts we have. Whether writers like to admit it or not, unless they write media driven drivel they have probably experienced depression while writing. Or have used it as a coping mechanism and an escape. Writing can be difficult, but it also helps us see situations and even ourselves in a more positive light. It gives you something to focus on, and a real sense of achievement. Twitter and Goodreads has a plethora of people who understand this and are willing to offer advice. Good luck with your writing and feel free to msg me any time. And of course, welcome to the group :3
I have been writing stories since I was six. I don't know why I started, might've been a school thing but I still have a book of them from back then. For a while I wanted to be a journalist like Lois Lane. For even longer I just needed something to escape into. A place I was happy because I certainly wasn't happy at home or at school and in that I just found something I really liked, really wanted to do and found I had so many things in my head that had to get out. I started writing poetry at 17 and haven't stopped since.
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That is just adorable :p
I had my hair cut like her in the New Adventures of Superman. I was 13 at the time.
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Was it a book you read that made you say, I can do better?
Is there a family connection?
I'd like to know :]