Telling a story.

I write stories, I like writing...no love writing, but know my limitations.

There have been millions of books published, some good, some not so good. I often wonder whether I could become a published author, in the main stream, like many others. Then I see the hoops you have to go through to even get an agent let alone a publisher. I know that you can self publish, but it isn’t the route to massive success unless you are very lucky and have huge talent, both of which, I regret, I have not got.

When I read my stories, I think that I am quite a good story teller but not someone who could think of making a financial success out of writing. You could argue that many published authors make very little out if their writings but still do it. That begs the question, why do publishers take on authors who will not make much money for them? I suppose it’s all a bit of a lottery, really. Maybe they think that there will be another JKR around the corner? She was rejected more than once before being accepted as were many other authors like Frederick Forsyth.

As far as my stories go, I feel that they lack depth, my descriptive skills are limited and my characters somewhat necessarily shallow. That is the problem with writing short or episodic stories, you are always in a hurry to get to the end and at the same time trying to keep the attention of the reader. You simply do not get time to go deeply into the psyche of the character or describe in any great detail what, where and who everything or everyone is.

I read some books where you are on page 20 before you get to the nuts and bolts of the story. You just can’t do that with short stories, you have to get to the meat of it virtually straight away, grab your audience by the scruff of the neck and pull them along with you.

I love descriptive writing, where an author can paint a picture in words and transport the writer to far off places and situations where a reader can feel a part of the story, even only as an observer. I do my best with my stories and maybe one day I will write that great novel but I won’t hold my breath.

For now, I am happy that so many people have read my stories and either commented, voted or kudo’d them. The fact that I have had nearly a million hits — although I know not all of them are actual reads - countless votes and many kudos, shows that what I have done can’t be all that bad!

It is nice that I have been able find a place for me to scratch my itch. BCTS is a home to me, a home where I can put my thoughts into words and allow what talents I have to be put on view. I thank Erin and her team for the work and sacrifice that they have put into making this the most successful and friendly place to read and write our stories.

Sorry about the rambling nature of this blog. I am just putting thoughts into words for those of you who are kind enough to read my stories. Anyway, back to the grind otherwise my great editor Gabi will want to know why I am wasting time writing this drivel and not completing the latest “Thief” chapter!

Hugs
Sue