Writing your story in your own words is the most important.
I learned so much about myself and my past by writing my first novel. Enough that I could write a historical novel, At What Cost, Silence?, then tackle writing a memoir.
Folks have asked about the process I went through in writing my first novel.
Many are beginning writers like me. I am older than most beginning writers. I began writing when I was sixty.
Originally I joined an online journal, wrote stories and got positive feedback. Positive enough to attempt a novel, which I paid a professional editor to read and let me know if my writing was worth the effort. In other words, was it publishable? With additional work, he thought so.
I was pretty sure I didn’t have all the tools as I had never studied writing in college, though I had always loved reading. I bought a subscription to The Writer magazine, as well as several books recommended by same, and have been studying how to write well ever since. Plus doing it. Writing. The more I write, the better I get.
The Young Adult novel I am working on now halfway through the third draft. It takes place on a distant world two thousand years after being colonized by three ships from Earth and about fifteen years after the end of an interplanetary war. Both main characters, one male, one female, are best of friends, come from military families and live in a small, military town.
Many new writers believe that writing science fiction is easy.
Research was necessary in order to build a world according to scientific principals because my first attempt was a science fiction novel, not a fantasy. First I had to learn about genetics, because genetics is a main factor in the plot. I researched developmental biology and ecology in order to create my world, Gaia. I had to research running, because one of the main characters is a runner. I studied renewable energy sources, particularly hydrogen. My husband was a therapist, and I studied psychology, and spent time in group and one-on-one therapy about my abuse.
Though this novel takes place in a fictional planet in the future, it is about me.
It is about the person I would like to have been in my same situation, as the protagonist is a young girls whose father sexually abuses her. In it I work through all my “shit.” Writing a story is a marvelous way to do this. Whether you think you are a decent writer or not.
I discovered I have a talent for it, but you don’t necessarily need to have that talent.
You can receive a tremendous amount from writing just for yourself.
I now write a newsletter about how we don’t just survive, we thrive.
You can join us through the news letter, but this isn’t necessary if you feel you aren’t ready.
Do try writing your story in your own words though. Break a few pencils, crayons, whatever. Tear pages. Get. It. Out. That is what is most important.
And always remember …
YOU ARE NOT ALONE.
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