Hello again everyone! Hope your writing is going absolutely swell as November and the fabled NaNoWriMo fast approaches. As for me, planning has been going swell but just recently I was contacted by Mr. Bob Clary over at webucator.com who had apparently stumbled upon my little corner of the internet and enjoyed my passion for writing. Now he’s turned around and asked me to write a post on how I would teach my talent unto others and my personal insight into the subject. This is both more complicated than a post could ever detail and simultaneously more simple than you could ever imagine.

Firstly, a bit about myself for those of you who may just be stopping by. I’m twenty nine and staring down the barrel of thirty. I’ve been bald for many a moon now and perhaps that has something to do with my particular craft. For something that has been with me for my entire life, it never treated me very well! I have worked many jobs and hard work has been something I have always been accustomed to. From company to company, I have been nearly promoted at every turn. I’ve only moved jobs when there has been no room to move up or no room for me where I have moved to. My travels have taken me from humble beginnings in a trailer park in a place called Sackville to living in my own home on the coast of Australia. Things could definitely be worse, I assure you.

As for writing; it has always been with me. No matter where I’ve been, what I’ve been paid to do, who I’ve been working for… it has always been right there, nagging me to explore the worlds in my mind. Perhaps my muse is harassing me. Maybe she’s in love with me as much as I am with writing. But no matter the case, I’ve been to some far away lands and met some incredible beings. I’ve always wanted that chance to make it my career, to spend time in those places and with those beings. This has lead me to read many books, not only on the subject of writing but classics as well.

From my twenty odd years experience in writing, from all the books I have read and from all the blog posts and articles I can tell you a few things. If I were to try and teach someone the art of writing, first would come the art of reading. It is just as important to research your genre as it is to read and enrich your vocabulary! Then, the most important task ever. Write. That sounds easy enough right? No. It’s impossible. It will grind you to dust and crush your very spirit. It will haunt your dreams. You will think about it in your most intimate of moments. It is everywhere, and many days- nowhere at all. 

Oh! You’re still here. I see. Despite all that I’ve said? Interesting. Then I’ll fill you in on a little secret. The most important thing I’ve ever learned about my craft is never lose the passion. Ray Bradbury was a writer I discovered all too late after his passing in 2012. His book, Zen in the Art of Writing, was not about writing. It wasn’t about words or building a story. It wasn’t about inspiration (Not for me at least). It was entirely about how this man, despite his many set backs and people telling him his work was rubbish, came out on top and just kept writing. He wasn’t writing to become a billion dollar man. He was writing simply because he loved it more than anything in the world. You need to have the passion, as it will drive you through the mud when it’s at its thickest.

In short, you want to be a writer? You need to read. A lot. You will need to write. A lot. And you will need more passion than you could devote to anything else. Writing is my mistress and when my girlfriend is mad at me, it is most likely writing’s fault (or mine!). And when I say read? I mean the genre you want to write in. When I say write? I mean start small. Accomplish The End in a short story. Then work your way up. I have hundreds of exceptionally short stories. Then suddenly The End was getting further and further from the start point. My last short story, entitled Circle of Vengeance out there on the internet, was twenty five full size pages. After that? I wrote a novel. Remember though, inspiration is everywhere!

Writing is more complicated than you could ever imagine, but at its most basic… just write. Write for you and people will either like it, or not. I could tell you how I do it, I could give you templates and books to read on the subject. But just write. Then you too can call yourself a writer.

However if you need any help with Microsoft products, I hear Webucator gives away a free course each month. See http://www.webucator.com/microsoft/index.cfm for details!

With that out of the way, I’m lined up and primed for November. My world is coming together and the lore is lining up. Many exciting individuals are moving in and the stories are beginning to intertwine. As we approach NaNoWriMo, I am feeling confident that this year I will destroy the target. Also my girlfriend will be gone during the final week, which frees up my time tremendously to pump out those final words if need be. My hope is to get book one done, with the tentative title: The Immortal Realms. Exciting times are ahead for me and I’m not even sure where to begin for it! I suppose I will have to decide that before November first! Get excited! Get ready! Let’s do this!

So tell me, are you guys ready for NaNoWriMo? How’s the prep work going? Also in regards to the above topic of teaching others how to write, how would you do it? I only ask because it really got me thinking about my own writing and my inspirations! Thanks for swinging by and talk to you soon! Now I leave you with a music video that I think of when I think about national writing month!