A. Writer says hello....

Hi everyone! I’m A. Writer. In name and by action. Okay, I’ll admit it, A. Writer isn’t my real name (Nah! You’re all saying, you don’t say! But wouldn‘t it be fantastic if it was!) I use ‘ A. Writer’ as my alias as my writing is a secret. Only a few people around me know that I write. I don’t know why I’ve kept it a secret-I’m probably scared they will laugh at me and tell me I’m wasting my time. Or they think it’s another hobby that I’ll get bored of after a while.

Anyway, I would describe myself as a chick lit/women’s fiction writer. I’m a 26 year old female and I’m from Dundee. I’ve been a member of the Novel Racers since February-ish and I’ve been creatively writing since mid-2005. Since I was very small I’ve always had a book in my hand, often reading 2 or 3 books at once. It’s something I try not to do now but sometimes I just can’t help myself. My chick lit/Women’s fiction ‘library’ at home stands at nearly 150 books.

My first novel, If Not Now, Then When? came about when I went into WH Smith to buy a book to read, couldn’t see one that took my fancy so the idea of writing my own novel popped into my head. It took me a good 18 months, on and off, to write the first draft (the first 10k was typed up on a palm top-not easy!) and it’s now at the long and laborious editing stage. It has been entered into the Cosmo/Waterstones Miss Write competition and depending on the outcome of that, it’ll be subbed to agents at some point soon.

My second novel was an intense and personal story. For that reason it has been put on hold indefinitely. I wrote about 20k words and was incredibly proud of the storyline however it became to difficult to write. I do hope to start writing it again however, it won’t happen in the foreseeable future.

My third novel is coming along nicely. I have over 10k words and feel incredibly positive about it. My first attempt at writing in the 1st person. So far so good!

Over the past few months I have been battling against the ‘wobbles’. Every so often I get the feelings that I’m not up to being a writer and think I should give up. I’m never sure where these insecurities come from but they are, unfortunately, a regular thing in my life now. The good news is I’m learning to beat them away with a large metaphorical stick. Being a member of the Novel Racers has helped me beat the wobbles as the comments and support I get from you guys makes me feel I’m not alone, as being a writer can be a lonely job sometimes. Reading your blogs (although I don’t always comment) helps me realise that I’m not the only one out there that gets the wobbles.

Unfortunately, I’ve had contend with ‘someone’ making me feel a little useless recently. They make it fairly clear that my knowledge of the writing world isn’t what it should be if I want to be published. What they and I have to remember is I’m still fairly new to this game and I’m willing to learn what I don’t know.

I’m currently on a little hiatus from blogging, which I hope to come back from with fewer wobbles and lots of ideas for my writing.

Keep up the good work everyone! We’re all doing so well!