Why I Write

I haven't been writing forever... Honestly, I've only really been serious about it for a couple of years... ok, less than a couple. In October 2019, I decided to write a novel. I published it in November 2019. And the sequel a couple of days later. Yes... days. The first one was Planning Vengeance and the second was Dig Two Graves.

Both books were written at the same time. My target had been 100k words. It was a nice round number. Well, I finished the story and I was WAY over. I cut it in half (roughly) and sent the first half off to some friends to beta read.

About the time they finished, I sent off the second half to the same people. From there, it was a matter of figuring out how to publish it... and once I knew, getting from completed manuscript to self-published was pretty fast.

Anyway... The first one (two) was more of a personal dare. I quite literally (maybe even out loud) said to myself, "I can do better than this" while reading a book. And, because if I'm going to talk to myself, I should answer... it wouldn't be polite not to... "You think you can write a book? Go ahead... do it."

But that doesn't explain why I wrote more.

I liked it. I used to like blogging. I still have a couple of platforms, and at one point I wrote two to posts a day spread over several sites. Real Estate, cars and a little tech.

But then I stopped.

Totally.

It took years to start writing again, and I had (have) no desire to go back to that style of writing.

When the idea takes me, I can write a 85k word book in about three weeks. I have been writing mostly as a "pantser"... Plotter doesn't seem to work as well for me. I want it to, but it doesn't.

I sit down and write. I read and revise. I add, subtract and edit. Send off to beta, then revise, add, edit and subtract again. That usually takes longer than writing it did to begin with... 4-5 weeks.

The writing of a book is fun. I have laughed (as my family stared at me) while writing other parts. It can be exciting, wistful and heartbreaking... I have written scenes that brought me to tears.

In my latest book, Lies and Omissions, toward the end there are some scenes between the main character and his father, just before the father passes away. Those were tough. I relived my father's passing and the conversations we had before he left this realm twenty-four years ago... and they were as fresh as when it happened.

Other scenes evoke reality, too. I'll just call it the closet scene... the true story can be found here on Vocal, and the fictionalized version in Lies and Omissions. I actually sent it to the other person that stars in that scene to read. She got a good laugh out of it as well.

But I guess the last question would be why... why do I enjoy doing this?

I get to relive some of the best times of my life... and maybe make them better by fictionalizing the crap out of them.

There is an opportunity to memorialize some of the things my crazy friends did... without any of us getting into trouble.

I can find closure, or work through old feelings.

But the best thing is to just let me imagination run free. Through my characters, I get to do things I would never do... some of them that I would never want to do. I get to create experiences. I get to control a fantasy world of my own... although, sometimes my characters don't let me have as much control as I wish they would.

As I write this, I just published #6. I actually have #7 and #8 almost queued up. One has been through beta readers and the other is with them now. I think the one that I have back from beta will need ore work... and it will likely be slower.

But aside from that, I have three more underway. The more I write, the more I CAN write. And when the story takes off... it takes off in a big way.

Grafton (the one that is back from beta) was started last summer. I wrote the first and second story in a matter of days... but then it sat. But then, I wrote the third story in a couple of days, and the fourth in a few more. I couldn't progress for months... then boom.

People that read my blog have heard all about it and read some of the teasers. Just as a note, it is four vignettes about one of my series characters and his family. He isn't central, but pivotal.

I'd love if you checked out my Author's page on Amazon, as well as my blog (subscribing gets you a free ebook) and my writing profile here on Vocal. I LOVE feedback... even when it isn't all good.