I am writing a new book. This time it will be my first sci-fi book. I have experience writing non-fiction, but writing fiction is something I promised myself I would do but never did. A year ago I decided to go back to an old idea I had 20 years ago. Yes, some things can take a little bit of time to get to. But, if Louise in Steel Magnolias
On closer inspection the original idea (codename “Revenge”) turned out to be a good third book, but not a good first book, because I think some things need to be explained before I get to the third book in the series.
Actually, it is not important whether there will be a whole series of books or not, what matters is that when I abandoned the original idea and went on an expedition to explore a side-plot my creativity was suddenly on fire and I got out of a creative block I was stuck in for a few months. It was so effective that I got the outline and the first three chapters out of my head in three weeks.
I really like to feel the creative side of my brain buzzing with activity. Contrary to what you may be thinking, I don’t spend all of my time writing, but rewriting and learning more about the craft of writing fiction. Thanks to the internet I don’t have to take classes or join an esteemed society to learn how to write a book. These days I can simply go to YouTube, listen to the best authors and learn a lot about the process.
In case you want to learn how to write, I created a playlist of my favorite author talks. If you do not like the playlist interface, here are the direct links to the videos on that list. I also included links to the books by those authors. I chose those videos where the authors talk about the craft of writing, not those that are solely intended as promotional appearances.
PS. If you want to follow my journey towards getting my first novel published, sign up to my mailing list. It’s free and there will be no spam, just updates on the process and subscriber-exclusive content.