I started the Oldbury Writing Group on the 22nd August 2014. I had been wanting to do something like this for quite a while as nothing pleases me more than being able to share my knowledge and help other writers. Though I am a published author now having published two books. It has not always been that way, in fact, my writing started when I was very young. When I was a child I would spend all my pocket money on pens and paper, and then I would pinch my sisters pocket money and hide it behind the sofa, she always found it and told Mom on me but hey, it was worth a try, right?
I have always had a love for wildlife and in my teens I was learning the behaviour, physiology and classification of mammals, by the time I was 21 years old, I wrote a 162 page wildlife book called, 'Wildlife in Colour.' I drew all the illustrations myself, though this book was never published, at the time I had no idea about publishing and all the work that is involved in it, in those days, publishing was very much different to what it is now. During the following nine years to come, I did not write much. The odd story, the odd poem, but I carried on studying wildlife. Then on the 11th February 2010 my dad passed away. His home was a council property and they did not give us much time to sort out his belongings and hand his keys back in, so, we had a lot to do while we were going through the tough time of grieving. Then one day, after my family and I had organised his belongings between the family or to the charity shop, it was my job to wait in for an inspector from the council to come and check the place out, make sure it is clean and empty. During this time, I was alone in an empty flat that used to belong to my wonderful dad, I walked around remembering the time that I helped him wall paper his bedroom, how I went shopping with my sister and brother to choose his living room colours, then I sat in the kitchen, on the floor was the markings of where the fridge freezer used to be, where the cooker used to be and I couldn't help thinking, 'Is this it? apart from wonderful memories, photographs and trophies from his crown green bowling, is this all that is left of my dad, an empty flat with markings on the floor?' I cried and I knew that I had to do something to leave some kind of legacy, not just for me but for my dad too. Just like anyone that whats to write fiction, I had no idea, how was I going to make the transition from non-fiction to fiction and get published? Well, about six months later, I watched for the very first time Stephanie Meyers Twilight, and I know, I know, vampires, werewolves, far too common . . .but was it, too common - is there any such thing as too common when it comes to a good story? After I watched the film I thought, 'I wonder if there is a book to this film, surely there has to be.' So I went to Waterstones and bought the first three books, Breaking Dawn had not yet come out at this point. I read them all, one of the other and when I was done I read them again. I loved them and I could not wait to get the next installment in the series. I thought, I can do this, I can write a story with characters that I love. It was at this point that I realised that your characters have to come first, I knew I had to know them like I know my own sister. I got online and learned a lot about the art of writing fiction, I went back to Waterstones and picked up books on writing and I looked around the charity shops to see what I could pick up too. Don't get me wrong I already knew a lot about writing, but believe me there is a huge difference between writing fiction and writing non-fiction. When I had got an idea of what I wanted to write, how my story was going to go, who the characters were. I sat down at my computer with a coffee and a cigarette (I don't smoke anymore), and I started the first words of what was to become my first full length novel, Innocent Spirits and I dedicated this book to my dad, Leslie Garratt, immortalising him and his latest achievement of raising nearly £3000 for the Meningitis Trust forever. Now my dad will never be forgotten for being the great man that he was. You see, I had to learn the heard way about writing, having people laugh at me, being told I will never do it. I know how hard it is to find a pathway to your first words in your novel, but I did it and it felt so good to hold that first copy in my hands, to see all that work put into book form. There are so many people out there that are right now struggling, just like I was. They want to write but they don't know where to start, I know exactly how that feels, it can make you feel like you are in limbo. To have a fire in your belly but you have no idea how to fuel it. How many of you have felt like that? The ones that have, know what I am talking about. It is that reason why I started the Oldbury Writing Group, and it is that feeling that compels us to keep going, every week on a Saturday morning at Oldbury Library, West Midlands. This is, in a nutshell, the story of how I started writing, Nicole has her story, Andy has his as does Percy and Jackie and all our other members . . .and you have your story, how did you get started? It would be great to hear from you.
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AuthorI am the author of a book called Innocent Spirits, I write short Novella's and Short stories. I love to dabble with a bit of Poetry. All my stories are either Horror or paranormal Thrillers. I write poetry of all genres. Archives
July 2019
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