Hello and welcome! All two of you! Just kidding, I know it’s three. I’m no stranger to blogs, but it’s been awhile since I’ve published one with any sense of regularity. Here’s to hoping I don’t neglect this! Starting off well, no?
Anyway.
Writing fiction is not my day job. I’ve been working on my story, currently titled, “A Faerie Story” for a couple of years; over holidays at first, then weekends, then after work. Now I put in anywhere from an hour to four a night on it, writing, doing research (*coughgooglingcough*), working on this website, or putting together aesthetics/mood boards (a great tool to help create a visual mood for your work, to help summarize all or parts of the story, or to just help keep your head in the game when you’re feeling stuck). Most of my weekends are devoted to writing. I’m finding that the more I write, the more I write.
A typical writing setup- plenty of gauc, zero spoilers.
I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a novel for many years, but told myself it wasn’t possible. I told myself I wasn’t creative enough, that I would never finish it (to be fair, at this point I don’t even have a full first draft, so…), and a great many other terrible things. What story could I possibly have to tell? etc.
It took me a long time to get those thoughts down on paper (metaphorically). It was like I thought that, once I started writing, someone would know, would read it, would hate it; would confirm those terrible and True Thoughts(TM) from earlier. I’d be outed as a fraud. Or something.
None of those thoughts are true. No one was trying to break into my computer to read my stuff and ridicule me for it (didn’t think anyone was, to be honest, but anxiety is a strange mistress). Anyone who’s written anything can tell you, the best advice when writing is just to write. Just. To. Write. Your first draft will not be perfect, and that’s fine. Soak in your awkward phrases, strange approaches to grammar, and problematic timelines. It’s your first draft.
I finally started listening. Now I’m over 70,000 words in (over 300 pages, in case you’re wondering) and I’m excited about the work to come. I even have a few beta readers lined up! We’ll see if they still want to be friends with me afterward.
I love getting to know the characters I’ve created- Lia, Emily, Olivia, Nic, Sebastien, Diana, Ruby, Lux, Maeve (the list goes on), and the worlds they inhabit.
If you made it this far, kudos to you, fair reader! I hope you stick with Lia and her friends as they uncover mystery after mystery, deal with literal and metaphorical growing pains, and are forced into facing truths and beings beyond their wildest dreams.
I think that’s enough for a first blog. More later.
Best,
Kat
Katrina T. Putnam 