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It starts...


So there I was, minding my own business, when all of the sudden I said, "I want to write a novel." Sounds simple enough. I mean, I have read a LOT of books and I like stories. If I put my mind to it, I could come up with a good story, then all I have to do is write it down, right? No.  I am, it seems, a student of all I do. I can't just start doing. I have to study it first, research it throrughly, become knowledgeable about what I am wanting to do. I need to learn how to write. But it is more than that, I need to learn to write gigantic stories. At least gigantic compared to the 10-12 page research papers that I had written in college. I need to learn the how....

So I start my research and find that a lot of writers state that if you want to be successful as a writer, you have to write...a lot. When you are not writing, read, A lot. Ok, I can do that. so far, so good.

I started by reading while considering what I want to write about. I can't just start writing. I have to have a plan. Hell, I don't even go to the bathroom without a plan, because the jobs not done till the paperwork is filed. But I digress. I don't have a protagonist, I don't have a story plot. I don't have an antagonist. All I have is a vague feeling of atmosphere that I wanted to convey  and a desire to do it in the urban fantasy genre.

So I will read for a bit first then we will see what happens. But what will I read? I just finished a series by my favorite author, and was greatly inspired. That series and the world that the story takes place in is probably the reason the switch got flipped in my brain to change me from a computer geek, a year from a degree in Network Security, to starting over to an English degree so that I will know more about literature and writing and the process.

This brings up another point. there are things that I am learning here that I had no idea about. It isn't that I was naive enough to think that these things did not exist, but it was never something that I looked for, therefore I never noticed it. I have recently learned terms like world building, magic systems, character development, story arc, etc.

This has brought me to the realization that I am SOOOOOO SCREWED!

So, I have started this blog as sort of a journal, outlining my development as a writer and as a student of fantasy literature. I have so much to learn.
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