Guest Post: On Writing – The Journey So Far

I have had a flare for all things creative since being a nipper.  I remember being told to go to other classrooms to show off my drawing of a horse when I was around nine years old – I was thrilled but also terribly embarrassed.  Art was my thing but I always loved to write and remember, fondly, English lessons at high school.  I loved storytelling, that is in itself an art from, is it not?  In any case, it lit me up and I came to life.

Some years later I find myself absorbed in my art of writing.  After a swift end to my nursing career and finding myself unable to get out of the house, for many days in the week, writing is more than enjoyment it is an escape and a release.  I find it nurturing to write and create and love to allow myself to enter the world of fiction.

I dream.  Vivid dreams.  Most are engaging and I document them for future tales.  I also experience pain that knows no boundaries – I make note of how that feels too.  All experiences that I have had in my short life, to date and in the future, are a library of juicy experiences that can and have been included in my fictional worlds.

I don’t sit at my computer, on my comfortable chair, pondering which treat I shall select from the library banks – situations develop and unfold and before I know it the essence of my real, very real, experience is there in black and white.  Not exact but it’s there and sometimes it shocks me, though most times I find it liberating.

I’ll tell you a little about my novel.  It’s my first and I know it won’t be my last – I love the journey.  I’m at second draft stage, so I’m excited.  To get to that stage I followed the wisdom of my inspiration and hero Stephen King.  I read his book On Writing and gained lots of tips and discovered lots about a writers mind – wow.

I’d sat with my characters for a few months.  Wrote down their traits and asked them many questions, found out what they wanted and what irked them.  What strengths did they have and of course what was their weakness.  I’d got that idea from a book called How to write a damn good novel and it has worked out well for me.

The plot I had in mind had been with me for quite some time and was born from real life, yet for a completely fictional tale – I needed it to be complete fiction in order to allow my characters to have free rein and amplify their traits.  If someone gets angry I times it by 100 so you see I couldn’t have any real life guys in this tale as it’s just too gritty for niceties.  It has to be as it is based in the grueling second world war.  It has romantic elements to it but I’d guess it isn’t along the lines that you would expect — in a good way, honest.  I aim to keep those pages turning and to do that I need to give readers a compelling tale, that means amplified emotional action.

Plot is there, I knew where things would go but, and this is a big but, I allow my characters to breath and expand and pose the question ‘what if’ – it’s a Stephen King thing and it works well for him.  Lets just say I have had a few big surprises to date.

The main thing that hits home with me from Kings way of doing it is: stick to the story.  Doing a first draft?  Get the bare bones down, don’t be tempted to check back over your work because that is when the inner critic pipes up and hence you will lose the train of thought and ultimately you lose the story.  Same goes for description, I think it is great that I can portray beautiful imagery and evoke all senses but who wants to sit and read reams of pages with no action?  Not me.

That leads me to the most important advice that I gained from King.  He is often asked this question:  ‘how do I learn to write?’  and the answer:  ‘read, read and then go read some more.  Good or bad matters not, you’ll learn from all’.  It’s true, I can vouch for that.

That’s where I’m at and the journey has been amazing.  As I’m restricted by limitations I couldn’t write daily – more like once per week.  I stuck to the same day for the same amount of time.  I asked for peace and to be undisturbed for the duration, no phones, no nothing and door closed – writing in motion.  I did very well, the story flowed like I’d only been writing it the day before, I was lucky and my muse was with me always.

I feel like I’ve evolved and learned so much, but there is always more to learn and ways to develop and improve – I like that.  Nothing becomes stale, always something new on the agenda.

I love writing and I love reading – I am in my element.

I also very much enjoy blogging and this benefits my writing in many ways.  I can discuss my illness, in light hearted manner, too.  You can find me at www.dawnyhosking.wordpress.com  you are welcome anytime.

Bio:

Dawn Hosking hails from the United Kingdom.  From a young age she has had a healthy liking for the arts.  In the late 1980’s she qualified in Art and Design with a Btec Diploma.  Years later she studied nursing and graduated with a DipHe in nursing, a career that was cruelly ended by a virulent virus that developed into ME and Fibromylgia and possible Seronegative Spondyloarthritis.  Pain and fatigue are a hindrance and part of life now and it is a struggle but Dawn remains optimistic and positive.  Against the odds she has managed to complete a first draft of her Romance novel based in World War 2.  She is soon to begin editing towards a second draft and intends to publish in the near future.