Doing things the ‘normal’ way

I was browsing the blogs I follow. And I came across OM’s new post. Now, although he is far more opinionated than me, I find that I am experiencing a lot of the same things as OM. Not about free advice or help – I think that ought to always be free, but about the writing.

People do ask me why I ‘give it away’. Why have a blog of short stories and flash fiction that is free? I try to explain that I want to be a storyteller, but they counter with the poor angle. If you give it away you will never be rich…

I countered with The Gone, a novel that I’m serialising for free in my other blog. Yes, free. Eventually I will pop all the chapters together and publish it as a free ebook, but it will still be free. Why?

Well, it is two fold. Firstly I love to tell stories and I get my storytelling hit this way. Some of the blog posts are long and some very short (sorry about that). They are all written the same week they are posted. In fact, at moment they are being written the same day. Why? Well, honestly I’m not sure where the story is going. Don’t get me wrong I know where the chapter starts and where is ends, it’s just the middle bit that is fuzzy. Still my characters will get there and they will probably take I route I would never have planned them to.

Secondly, history says that free or low cost serialisation works. It worked for Dickens, Stephen King (mostly short stories) and others. When I was a kid I would get serialised audio books. I devoured them. (I didn’t learn to read until I was 11, until then it was all audio). Those stories are still some of my favourites. Do I remember the authors? No probably not, but you never know who might read it. And I’m enjoying the story.

That has to be the biggest thing when writing – you have to enjoy it. And blogs or serialised novels are not done for the money. I’m not going to make millions giving stuff away, but it does make me happy. I love telling tales, whether they are short or long, believable or fantasy. And with the blogs I can see that people want to read what I write. Does that make me a good writer? No, but it makes me want to strive for perfection. I want my stories to be the best you have ever read because you are reading them.

So, like OM, I’m not going about my writing career in a traditional sense, instead I am going about it as I want to. I just hope that others enjoy the ride. 🙂 And maybe one day, as OM says:

 It is wanting a goal and knowing that one day you will get that goal. One day you’ll turn around and be able to say “I told you so” because you know what? Saying “I told you so” feels fucking great!

from OM’s post

Although I would probably not swear… I don’t. Unless I hit my thumb with a hammer or fall over. Then I can, but otherwise I don’t. I even have difficulty writing it, even when my characters are swearing.

Maybe I won’t make it, but if I don’t try I will never forgive myself. If I try and don’t succeed at least I tried. But to just let life flow past me would be unforgivable.