Why I Write

Pleasure

The main reason why I write Children's/Young Adult novels, poetry, as well as this blog is that it is FUN! For me there is nothing more enjoyable (Okay, hiking a windswept mountain comes close) than sitting in front of my computer, mug of tea by my side, tap-tap tapping away as I bring life to my stories and characters. Writing is creation. Ultimately, it's not habit or ambition (though they are important too) that draw me back to the world of Jack Strong it's the fact that it's a better, more productive way to spend my time than most other things I do. 

My Career

Wouldn't it be great to see my book adorning the shelves of bookshops across the world? Another no less vital reason for me to write is that one day I would like to get paid for it. It would be great if, one day in the not-too-distant future, I could leave ESL teaching behind and just concentrate on my writing - and with over ten novels and a poetry collection in the bank, plus another book on Mars on the horizon I have plenty to do. If I want to be the next Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, or J.K Rowling I can't very well get there by NOT writing can I?

If you like what I have to say about writing, feel free to check out my poetry collection on life in modern China:

Made in China

Honing My Skills

With each page that I write, nay with each sentence, I become more accomplished as a writer. Writing is sometimes less of an art form and more of a craft or a skill: the more you do it, the more you learn from your mistakes and the better you get. So it is with me. When I first sat down to write Jack Strong and the Red Giant it was hard work at first, and though I'd read a fair amount of novels, all I'd written before were poems so I was very rusty and still very much finding my feet as a writer. The total word count for the first Jack Strong book was just above 80,000 words but I binned at least half that amount during the drafting process. By the time I was penning my second novel however, all that had changed and everything seemed to flow easier, the result being a smoother, less chaotic novel completed in a quarter of the time with hardly any rejected text.

 

If you like this article then check out my podcast, ‘What! The Heys’ where I offer weekly deep dives into the writing and publishing industry.

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1021147

My Stories and My Characters

The more I write, the more my stories and my characters and the universes that they inhabit take on a life of their own. I can't let Jack Strong and Vyleria Romen (the main characters in my novel Jack Strong and the Red Giant) die by either my procrastination or through losing hope. To me they are no longer characters in some novel of mine, but close friends that have a life of their own - lives that deserve to go on and be written about over and over again.

My readers

Now whilst I don't have legions of fans scurrying around and haranguing me for my autograph yet, my book has been read, reviewed, and commented on by numerous people. What I really love are the reviews from those people who want to read more, who demand to know when the next book is out, and what will happen to this character and that character etc. Reviews like these are red bulls to writers like me. They give me hope. They give me the belief that maybe someday more people like them will appreciate what I'm doing, buy my book, and hopefully spread the word.

Agendas

 

Every writer has an axe to grind and a point to prove. Books shouldn’t just revolve around characters and plot, they have to be ABOUT SOMETHING. So, it is with me. My poetry collection, ‘Made in China’ focuses on poverty, environmental catastrophe, and the dangers of rapid industrialization. The Jack Strong series is stuffed with themes like standing up to fascism, anti-bullying, and how war impacts the environment. I also try to upend certain aspects of my chosen genre such as by ditching iambic pentameter and full rhyme in my sonnets and by creating flawed heroes in my Young Adult books. Every piece of work has to justify itself in order to get written. Then there’s real people. People who I want to meet again but can’t because of time and geography. I regularly mould my characters on past acquaintances. I based Vyleria in my book, Jack Strong and the Red Giant, on five or six different women that I’d known at one time or another. It’s the same with many of my books. Then there’s revenge. I get a kick out of creating characters from people who have annoyed me in the past. This even extends to celebrities, with Steve Jobs and Elon Musk forming the basis for two of my latest antagonists. Writing gives me a voice. And I intend to use it. 

My book Jack Strong and the Red Giant is available @: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00M22USRE