Writing for fun and (profit?)

This might not be the right time to talk about a writing platform, but I am in love with Vellum! In my opinion it is way better than putting up with Words glitches and anomalies. It seems expensive—$250 if you are doing paperbacks and e-books, $199 for e-books only. But, it is not only a writing platform but also a way to publish! It is seriously worth the money—only the one time charge for as many books as you want to write. It gives you many options for details on fonts, how you want your pages to look, with decorative titles and ornamental breaks between sections. You can add your own or use what they offer. Check out Vellum here. There are many writing platforms to choose from, so if you are considering something other than Word, make sure to check all of them out. They are all a little bit different with emphasis on things that make them unique.

There are writers who swear by hand writing their stories—they say that doing it that way is more emotionally driven. I have never experienced this, and to be honest my writing hand just gets too tired—that and my thoughts go too fast for my hand to keep up with—computer keyboard works best for me.

With that said we can move on to other topics. Have you been longing to put down on paper the strange and wondrous things that have happened to you? Do you tell yourself you wish you were a writer? Do you read? If you resonate with these statements and you are reading this article, why not try it? What do you have to lose?

I may have mentioned in my first article that my serious writing began in a writing workshop—I had always loved writing, but it took off that year. And it wasn’t on the topic I was working on, which was a sort of memoir about my parents that I had planned to fictionalize. Instead, it was a fantasy that took place in a mythical reality that I called the Otherworld. You may not believe in channeling, but that’s the only way I can describe what happened next. The books wrote themselves. And they kept on writing themselves until just recently. Thirty of them. But now I am having a heck of a time with my latest story. The characters appeared, but the gist of the story keeps changing. I am now editing what I first wrote—changing the story because something in me says I need to. It’s frustrating because I am 30,000 words in with many chapters in front me to edit before I can continue. AARGH.

Writing can be frustrating and frequently is. For a new writer what I would suggest is to pick a prompt (you can find them everywhere on the internet) and make yourself keep writing for say…fifteen minutes or so. Don’t think about it, just write. And if you get stuck, pick another prompt—there are literally zillions to choose from—or you can make one up: “I was headed to the store when…” or : It was dark the night she/he appeared in my doorway wearing….” or “Just as I stepped off the curb I heard…” a bloodcurdling scream? A fox calling in the night? Someone calling my name? use your imagination…Let your thoughts go as you allow that inner voice to take over and lead you into the world of the imagination…and do not edit! The editing voice and the creative voice are not the same—try to remember that.

So to recap:

hand writing vs. keyboard

Writing platforms: Word vs Vellum and others

Interest in writing? Nothing to lose by trying

Letting go of your critical mind

Prompts—essential!

Creating vs editing—

Did you know that the part of the brain we use to write is separate from other parts? I loved finding that out. I kept thinking about being a story-teller, but I’m not a story-teller, I’m a writer. I’m an introvert and find it difficult to even explain what my books are about. Sometimes after a writing session when I try to recap to my husband, I can’t even do that! I’m sure there are people who are both story-tellers and writers. How do you fit into this equation?

We will get into the profit part of writing next time—watch for my weekly Substack articles!

Thank you for reading and Happy Writing!