A Real Book

 The other day my son stopped by for a visit and I told him I was working on writing another book. He asked me if it was a “real book.”

The question struck me as odd. He said he meant was I was writing a book with a story in it this time? Miffed, I told him of course I was writing a book with a story in it. All my books have had a story in them.

I’ve been thinking about what he said ever since and it finally occurred to me that a “real book” means something different to different people. 

If someone sits down and reads a book of poems, are they reading a real book or just a book of poems? To a person not interested in poetry, the answer is probably no. But to the poetry lover, the book of poems will have meaning and will have a story to tell to its reader. 

My other books may not be adventuresome or contain a readily identifiable hero and villain, but they do contain a theme. And the theme is contributed to by individual stories.

Whether it be a novel, a short story, or a poem, it’s a story in a format decided upon by the writer. And that’s good enough for me. 

Beginning, Middle, End

First, I’d like to say I’m still plugging away at my science fiction book.

Second, I’d like to say it’s a labor of love. I’m nurturing it as if it were my child because, well, it sort of is my child. But I feel the need to clarify something I said in my inaugural post. 

In that one I said I wanted to write a book that had a story with a beginning, middle, and end. I didn’t mean to imply that I never wrote a story with those three components. Because I have. I’ve just never written anything longer than one thousand words. My first chapter is over two thousand words. 

The bulk of what I write is flash fiction. One hundred word stories or less. So writing something longer has been a challenge. But one I’m up for.

Stay tuned. 

Writing My Book is an Enjoyable Challenge (so far)

 I’m finding my attempt to write a book-length story has become an enjoyable challenge. I’m being challenged by a sense of creativity that I find invigorating. It’s actually fun. 

I’ve set a goal for myself to write a chapter a week. I don’t know if that’s going to be a realistic goal for me to attain, but I’m going to try to stick to it. It should keep me from procrastinating and keep me on track.

I know there are writers who can successfully bang out book after book. Then there are those who take years to write one book. This endeavor will show me where I stand within those parameters. 

I like writing and I like being creative. Working on this book will show me just how much I like being a creative writer. 

When it stops being fun, I’ll be done. 

What I want My Story to be About

I’ve  given what I want my story to be about a lot of thought. And this is what I’ve come up with: I want it to be a love story about two individuals who come from totally different backgrounds and must find common ground and who discover things about themselves while facing their personal demons and fighting to maintain their freedom (and that of their people) in the face of oppression and aggression. 

What my story eventually becomes depends on what it tells me. I see a lot of promise and potential. I also don’t see an end. More on that in a future post. 

Right now, I see a beginning that’s ready to get started. So here goes. Chapter One. 

A Story Years in the Making

The idea for my science fiction book began over ten years ago when I was bitten by the creative writing bug. I jotted down everything that came to mind and stored it all on a flash drive. Whenever I found the time, I would whip out the flash drive and attempt to stitch together a cohesive story. Usually, it was a fast paced adventure that was all space shoot ‘em up and not much else.

I ran into problems when I asked myself why I was writing it. My answer was always because I want to write a science fiction adventure. But I didn’t have any direction for my story to go anywhere. There was no point to it other than it was a science fiction story, it would be cool, and people would like it. But I eventually realized that’s not a good enough reason to write a science fiction book. Actually, it’s not a good enough reason to write any kind of fiction. So I stopped trying and moved on to write other stuff. But now, ten years plus and several rewrites later, I’m back at it. This time I believe I have a better handle on the direction of my story with what I want to say and where I want it to go.

I’ll let you know how it goes as I work through the process because I still want to write a science fiction adventure.

I Have a Novel Idea

I have a novel idea. Well, not exactly a novel idea as much as an idea for a book.

Invigorated by my reintroduction to Star Wars and inspired by Star Wars YouTube videos, I'm going to write my own science fiction story. Unlike my other books, which are collections of flash fiction humor stories. (And I do intend to continue writing those.) I have also decided to write a book with a story that has a beginning, middle, and end.

For a few years now I've had a nagging idea to write a novel. And that's all it's ever been. A nag. Until now. I've decided to take the plunge and write a science fiction adventure. I enjoy reading science fiction books and watching science fiction TV shows and movies. So I'm about to find out if I'll enjoy writing science fiction.

From time to time I'll use this blog to track my progress. Hopefully, someone will read my future posts when they've become a part of the past and be inspired.

Here goes. Wish me luck.