My writing journey so far…
If you’ve found your way to my blog, welcome! If you want to know how I got to where I am now, then read on.
Being a writer is something I wanted to do for a long time before putting any words on a page. I’ve always loved reading and developed my love of sci-fi and fantasy as a teenager. I remember devouring the Lord of the Rings books after watching the first film and being too desperate to know what happens to Frodo and Sam to wait a year for the second film.
Magic and space continued to hold my fascination. For years, I kept thinking of novel ideas but didn’t think I could write them. I’d never met any authors and assumed you had to have something special to write a book, just like you have to be tall to be a model (something else I’m not).
Eventually though, I decided to give it a go. The first thing I wrote was very short, and, with hindsight, was subconsciously Twilight fanfiction. And a load of rubbish. I had no idea what I was doing and had yet to discover that writing is a skill that you can learn and practise, not something that you are born with. Needless to say, that piece went in a digital drawer and has never seen the light of day. And never, ever will.
With a bit of research, I discovered there are ways to learn how to write. I joined a short-lived writing group, which folded after a few months, at the same time as doing a free online writing course with the Open University. And for the first time, I met other writers. What did I discover? They’re just people. Mindblowing.
Being around other writers is invaluable. So again, I did some research, i.e. Googling, and discovered Ayr Writers' Club, a long-running and successful group, pretty much on my doorstep. It was 2016 when I first walked through the door, and ten years later, I’m still a member. It’s hard to overstate how much support I’ve received from this lovely group of people. Writing can be so isolating, and you need other people who just get it. I’m sure I’ll still be a member ten years or more from now.
Through Ayr Writer’s Club, I have also attended the Scottish Association of Writers, an annual conference with competitions, workshops and speakers that happens at the gorgeous Westerwood Hotel in Cumbernauld. I missed it this year, but I’ll write about it the next time I do go. In short, it’s a fantastic weekend.
I have been to a few other conferences, and I’ve found something useful to take away from each one.
However, you can attend all the clubs and conferences in the world and not write a single word, which is not good for a writer. By 2022, I had written a lot and had some short pieces published, but felt I had plateaued. I knew the novels I was working on weren’t up to publishable standard, but didn’t know how to make them better.
Enter Golden Egg Academy.
If there is one thing that has made the biggest tangible difference to my writing, it’s GEA. I completed their 12-month Writing for Children and Young Adults and the 6-month Work on Your Novel courses. I learnt so much about structure, character, world-building, you name it. I also made more amazing writing friends.
It also made me realise that the ideas I’d been working on weren’t working. My work-in-progress went in the digital drawer, along with about 3 others in various stages of completion, and I started from scratch with a new idea about a sci-fi murder mystery. Scary, but exciting.
Towards the tail-end of 2024, I had been writing for so long and wanted something to show for it. I put my best short pieces together and self-published my collection, A Lullaby for the Warrior Maiden. Shameless plug - it’s still available on Amazon.
I’ll probably write about my self-publishing experience in future, but for now I’ll say I enjoyed the process but would like to try and find a publisher for my novel. I might come back to self-publishing at some point, but I'm going to attempt the traditional route.
My sci-fi murder mystery is at the editing stage, and I plan to send it out to agents later this year. Even if it doesn’t find a home, I’ve loved creating this story and I’m super proud of it. When I’ve finished it, I’ll be moving onto my next idea.
In a rather large nutshell, that’s where I’m at. Ten years, one self-published collection and an everlasting love of books.
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