My very first blog post

I’m an aspiring writer.

I’ve heard it said that anyone looking to get into writing should stop thinking of themselves as ‘aspiring writer’ and just think of themselves as a ‘writer’, regardless of whether they’re paid. But my stories tend to fall apart halfway through, so unfortunately, I think that word, ‘aspiring’, belongs up there.

I’ve only had one paid writing gig – nearly two years ago I wrote a ten second sketch for a radio programme. A programme premiering at 11pm on a Thursday night, on BBC Radio 7, starring Balamory’s Archie the Inventor.
I’ll leave it to you to decide whether any of that’s exaggerated for comic effect.

I’ve had dozens of half-finished ideas over the years. Maybe it’d be more accurate to say half-started, given the early stage my self-confidence and muse depart, going off to frollick without me.
I’m pretty good at planning and plotting, with some pretty big, grand scale ideas. I’ve had space operas played out across dozens of worlds, dramas and sitcoms with outlines of characters and themes, all jotted down, expanded and streamlined over the years.
At times I feel like an overgrown kid, playing with toys and imaginary friends – for better and worse.
I feel like there’s something there, something worth nurturing and developing.
I’m not so arrogant to think I can be a major star, but I think I can eventually be good enough to get novels published, and earn a living from writing.
That is, if I can actually get into the habit of writing regularly, getting my words and ideas down on page. The current, pesky non-psychic printing technology might struggle otherwise.

I also have half a dozen different writer’s guides, none of which I’ve completed, with exercises to carry out. These include methods of analysing stories – novels, films, television, etc.
I’m interested to see how stories function, the small, moving parts that make a story work, often acting below the surface to keep a story flowing quickly, make it dynamic and compelling.
I think there’s maybe a desire to read this kind of thing for it’s own sake, see how the stories we love work, see them analysed. If I can do these analyses even halfway decently (and remember, that’s if) then there should be a bit of a natural audience as I ramble on self-indulgently.

From a writer’s perspective, the idea seems to be to see how these rules apply in practice to the things I like and hate, to do this repeatedly, and the patterns become habitual, internalised. Eventually I’ll have enough awareness of techniques, generic conventions and whatnot, that I can apply or disregard the rules and structures as I see fit.
Provided I actually get round to doing this stuff, of course.

I also plan on looking for internet writing work – a few years back now I wrote a semi-regular column for a football website. So, if you’ve got a website and are looking for help with a website – preferably on a subject I’ve written about elsewhere, I’m interested. But I’m persuadable – writing is writing, good habits are good habits, and star nosed moles are star nosed moles.

Also, it’d be nice if I’m able to whore my not particularly considerable talents out, see what options there are out there.

So, to cut a long boring ramble short, what I intend to do here is to write a mixture of analysis and a writing diary.
I’ve read that most blogs hardly get any views in the first year, but can pick up when a reputation spreads.
If I’ve stuck with it, there’s a decent chance that you’re reading this a year into the future (hope you’re getting your preparations ready for the Mayan apocalypse – you don’t want to leave it all till the last minute! I made the same mistake with the Millennium bug, and my computer was *really* upset…)
So… Hopefully, my dear traveller from the future, you’ll be able to find a variety of interesting writing and story related things on this blog.

Yeah, I’d better get started on that.