Comments on: So you want to be a writer, Part 1

By: Matthew Sylvester

Matthew Sylvester — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:38:15 +0000

I think I must be slightly odd. I love writing and I don’t find it hard to get the words out. I have the opposite problem where I will come up with one idea, then another, then another and they’re all clamouring for my attention like little children saying ‘daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, dad, dad, dad, dad, dada, dada’ whilst tugging on my coat :)

I too had issues with my somewhat expensive editor adding in mistakes, not spotting others and not spotting that I’d used two pictures that were the same as part of a sequence. I only noticed that when someone on martialartsplanet.com pointed it. Gutted is like saying ‘seppuku hurts’.

However, I have another martial arts book that I’m part the way through (only 15k words or so, I’ve submitted an entry to the Black Library for a piece of fiction (they had an open window) and I have a number of Steampunk-based books that I also want to crack on and get writing.

All this with a family, martial arts club, full-time job and LIFE in general :)

By: Matthew Sylvester

Matthew Sylvester — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:38:00 +0000

All this with a family, martial arts club, full-time job and LIFE in general :)

By: Wim

Wim — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:08:48 +0000

@Dennis. Yes, when it’s done well, it’s a joy. That said, I’ve wrestled through some hideously written books because the subject matter was so intriguing. But you just keep on wishing the writer was better at his job every time you turn a page… :-)

By: Dennis Dilday

Dennis Dilday — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:56:27 +0000

I ended up reading Part 3 first, but this is a great series, thanks. Writing is weird and I admire all who take it on and do it well. Like so many other things the standards vary greatly and seem to be coming down in many circles. It is a great pleasure though to read really well written work. And I do appreciate that it is work.

By: Dennis Dilday

Dennis Dilday — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:56:00 +0000

By: Wim

Wim — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 16:50:12 +0000

No worries Veal, I should have it up next week. And there’ll be a couple of cool “guest appearances” in the next parts. :-)

By: Urban Samurai

Urban Samurai — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:48:39 +0000

Writing is one of the least romantic activities I know of. I have been doing of and on since I was a teenager, both fiction and non-fiction, and it’s bloody hard work most of the time. The more you do it though, the better you get at it, but it is usually still a hard slog to get the words out. Fiction especially is quite hard work and incredibly frustrating at times. Blogging, I find to be a bit easier, since I’m writing about something I’m passionate about and have quite a lot of experience in. The words flow a bit more because of this.

Despite the fact that writing is hard graft, I love it- always have and always will. I consider it my calling, not to be too pretentious about it. If I didn’t have the compulsion to do it I probably wouldn’t bother. It’s just one of those things that I have to do, like martial arts.

If you have the writing bug nothing will stop you from doing it. In fact you need it to get you through. Without that compulsion you just won’t succeed.

Good post, Vim. Looking forward to the second part.