#56 — Dead or Alive | MORE ABOUT ME | MY WRITING PROCESS
Deep Dive Into Personal Writing Habits With These Eleven Questions
And while giving my answers, I promote some of my work
I actively use my reading list to save articles and I read several of those almost every evening — anything between five or ten creations of other writers.
It was on one of those evenings that I clicked on articles written by Nevena Pascaleva and Yana Bostongirl and the coincidence was that both of them had written in response to an article by Subhi Najar. Halfway through the Yana’s post, I knew I would answer the same questions, and when I read Nevena’s words, it was a sealed deal.
So here goes… eleven questions, eleven answers!
1. When did you start writing? Is there a specific story?
I grew up in South Africa, and from my third year in school — I was eight — we had to write essays. By then I was already an avid reader, and writing my own stories, escaping to different worlds, was a natural development.
I was fourteen when I wrote my first novella, and I still have it. I wrote it in a hard cover manuscript in blue, and once I was finished, I went back over it and edited in red.
2. Do you have rituals in writing? If yes, then please share them with us.
I don’t have any specific rituals. I don’t get up earlier so I can write, or carve out specific time to write. I just sit down and write.
That said, over the past year, maybe two, Saturday afternoons have turned into writing time. We always spend the afternoon at a certain establishment, and since I can’t just sit and do nothing for hours — I never could — I take my tablet and Bluetooth keyboard with me, and there, at the bar, with the buzz of people around me, I write.
Still, you can just as easily find me writing something on a Tuesday evening or a Sunday morning. Or any other day, whenever there is something I ‘need’ to get out.
3. The ugliest monster that writers are afraid of is writer’s block. If you have a recipe to deal with it, kindly share it.
This is the strangest thing — I have never had to deal with writer’s block, and I hope I never have to.
Yes, it has happened that I wanted to write for a prompt, and nothing came to mind, but then I just wrote something else, and allowed the prompt to simmer in my mind, until inspiration struck.
I write not only fiction but also about my memories, my mental health, and I like to share my creativity other than writing, such as photography and my bullet journal. I still read a lot — listen to audiobooks, actually — and I write book reviews of every book, because I feel this is a way to give back to the authors.
When I write fiction, I write in several genres. I used to write only erotic stories, but that changed when I came to Medium, and I now spread my wings to try writing all kinds of fiction.
Because of all the different things I write, I never experience writer’s block in the same way I have seen others write about it.
4. Describe the process of finding ideas for your stories. Please elaborate.
Oh goodness, I really don’t have a process. Ideas for stories come from everywhere. Sometimes it happens like it did for this post — I read something and am inspired to do my own post.
Sitting at our usual establishment, or somewhere outside on a bench, and watching people, ideas come to me. Things happening in our life can inspire me to write, like writing about my husband’s cancer, or my coaching sessions to cope with our changed life.
And then, of course, there are prompts. I write for every prompt on Tantalizing Tales, Redemption and The Memoirist, and also check other publications for their prompts. Sometimes I wish I could be a full-time writer, as there are many prompts I don’t get to, but want to write for!
5. As humans, we suffer without knowing it by choosing not to move outside our comfort zone. Do you have a “comfort zone” in writing (i.e. a topic that you always like to write about)? Have you tried to step outside your comfort zone and write something drastically different?
For many years, my comfort zone has been erotic fiction. What I didn’t realize was that many of those stories were also transgressive. This was until someone made me aware of it. So, I guess you can say that my comfort zone always was a mixture of erotic and transgressive.
Through prompts, I have definitely stepped out of my comfort zone, writing stories which have no eroticism in them. Maybe those stories were not drastically different, but it sure felt like they were, as it being erotic wasn’t my goal.
Stories which were once outside my comfort zone are: * Her Haunted House — written for a prompt, and dealing with death, and the moments before passing. * Climbing To The Summit Of Mount Everest — also written for a prompt, and this one deals with peer pressure and death. * Snippets of Kindness — I believe kindness will save the world, and it all starts with ourselves. This story is all about kindness, and maybe a bit more. * The Oktoberfest Murders — the first time I ever attempted to write a detective, which is my go-to genre for reading books. I’m quite proud of this story. * Fifteen Always Is The Perfect Number — this is also a detective-like story, but much more disturbing than the previous one, and another one I am damn proud of!
6. Besides Medium, do you use other writing platforms? Please share your experiences.
Up to 1 February of this year, I had a personal blog, where I put all my writing for thirteen years. However, I discovered Medium in February 2021, and gradually I leaned more towards this platform than my blog. To be honest, the latter started feeling like a chore, and I guess it just had run its course. I never had one moment of regret for taking my blog down, just as I never regretted having one for thirteen years.
Other than Medium, I write nowhere else, and honestly have no desire to do so.
7. Have you published a book? If yes, how and where…etc. Plz, feel free to share your links with us.
Years ago, I self-published two books, both of them with fictionalized stories. One of those stories — Thirteen Years — has already made it to Medium. The other will too.
A publisher took on my third book, and believe me, that sounds more glamorous than it really was. You see, the publisher is Dutch, and they had no one to proofread my book, so I had to look for beta readers, which I did. They did the cover design and published the book, and that was it. I had to do the marketing — which I suck at!
That book is currently running on my personal publication — Serial Stories.
8. You write because writing provides you with something special. Could you share your experience?
I come from a creative family, and as any other creative will know, when you have a talent, you have this urge in you to do something with it. One thing that has always intrigued me is creating something out of nothing.
To have a piece of cloth and turn it into a dress.
To have a ball of wool and end up with a jersey.
To have sheets of paper and turn them into greeting cards.
To watch the cursor blinking and fill the screen with a story.
In 2010 and 2011 I went to art class, and created one painting after the other. At the same time, in January 2010, I started my blog, of which I spoke of earlier in this piece. I was successful in both, but since I also had a full-time job and a busy household, I knew I had to make a choice. I stopped painting and continued writing, because at the end of the day I could express myself better in words than in color.
Writing provides me with a place to order my thoughts, whether I write fiction or fact.
9. Do you write a paragraph, a chapter, or a story with the end in mind or not? Plz, explain.
There was a time when I always had an idea how I wanted it to end, but it happened too frequently that my characters decided otherwise. So many times, a story just ran in a totally different direction, and I never got to the end I had in mind.
Now, whenever I have an idea of something I want to write, it’s only that — a general idea. If anyone would ask, I would need two sentences at most to say what I want to write. I never decide on the end. I have learned from so many of my characters to just set them free and let them determine their own actions, their feelings, their ending.
I know some writers who draw out entire storyboards before they start writing, and they would cringe at the way I approach my writing. But this is what works for me, and that is what works for them, and both are good.
10. Every writer has an idol. Who is yours? And what do you find inspiring in her or his trajectory?
Oh, my… I must be doing something wrong then, because I don’t have an idol, and I never did.
Yes, of course during all my years of reading there were authors I admired, and of whom I had read every book I could lay my hands on. I still do that — when I like an author’s writing style, I tend to read many of their books. All, if I could.
In my younger years Robin Cook, Patricia Cornwell, Robert Palmer and John Grisham were my favorites. However, even though I loved their books, I never looked at their trajectories, or interested myself to know more about the authors. All I wanted to do was read their books, and that I did.
Nowadays, I don’t have specific favorites, but when I do book reviews, I seek for more information about the authors. Still, I don’t idolize any author, no matter how much I like their books!
11. Does being on a writing platform like Medium help your writing plans? Plz, elaborate.
Unlike when I had a personal blog and had to do the design and maintenance, on Medium I can concentrate on just writing. Writing, reading, commenting, building community.
When I just started on Medium and became part of the partner program, I had dreams of earning big bucks. Of course, that’s only for a select few, and I quickly adjusted my goal. It might sound silly, but now my goal is to earn my yearly subscription back every month, and from December 2021, that’s exactly what happened.
I never plan more than a week ahead, except for stories with chapters. Every Saturday, I sit and look at the week ahead — in Excel — and decide which article/story I will submit to which publication. I have many stories which once were on my blog, and will make it to Medium, but I also write new material, and I love how people and publications on this platform keep on inspiring me to dip my pen in ink.
It was fun doing these questions and sitting here, thinking about my personal writing habits. I would love to hear from others how they do it. How about it, May More 💜 Tales, Posy Churchgate - Writes & Edits Fiction, Suzie Alexander, Lanu Pitan, Annelise Lords, JK Mill, Celia McKinley, F. Leonora Solomon, Nikolaos Skordilis and Evie Dawn?
🦋 About Me | 📨 Subscribe | 📚 Stories | 🔄️ Membership | 🦜 Twitter
Dead or Alive? We will publish a story every 24 hours as long as we can. Help us stay alive; submit a story today!