#IWSG: The start of my writing journey

The Insecure Writers Support Group is a marvellous group set up by Alex Cavanagh. On the first Wednesday of every month, members post thoughts, fears or words of encouragement for fellow writers.

The link above takes you to details about the group and how to join. You’ll also find a list of bloggers signed up to the challenge – do check them out.

The awesome co-hosts are T. Powell Coltrin, Victoria Marie Lees, Stephen Tremp, Renee Scattergood, and J.H. Moncrieff.

---

This month’s question: What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher / coach / spouse / friend / parent? Did you just “know” suddenly you wanted to write?

Storytelling wasn’t something I’ve done since childhood, nor do I recall much in the way of creative writing in my education process – more essays of critical analysis. Later it was all business – letters, reports, and the like. But I’ve always been a voracious reader – Enid Blyton to Booker Prize winners, and pretty much everything in between.

With the coming of my 50th birthday, Life changed significantly. Some changes I’d chosen, some I’d not. I joined an online community and became used to expressing myself via the written medium. That, in turn, led to me writing down the story of my experiences in the style of a magazine column. I never intended it for publication, it was more akin to a personal journal – but I discovered how much I enjoyed the writing process.

At the same point in my life, I joined a book group where I got into the habit of examining the books I read – not just whether I’d enjoyed them or not, but why. I began to consider structure, content, storytelling, writing style …   I started to talk about writing with another member of the group, for it had become a regular and important part of my everyday life as I’d also taken a leap into blogging – anonymously initially, so I could try out my writing chops. Those discussions led to his suggestion that we co-host a fiction website … and I’ve not looked back since.

So, while it was Life changes which started my writing journey, it was my friend David who got me to take the leap of faith into penning fiction – and I truly couldn’t be more grateful to him for taking that step.

 

I’m excited to find out how many fall into the life-long writer, and how many are in the johnny-come-lately camp – like myself.

 

---

© Debra Carey, 2020