On Writing (Part One: The Sometimes Difficult Beginning Part)…

Some writers find it difficult to come up with their own story ideas. If they want to write, they struggle and eventually ask someone else for and idea. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad thing to talk to someone else about your story to help you along, but at least come up with the base plot that's strong enough to hold its own and can be expanded on before you go talking to a family member or a friend. I hate it when I'm searching the web and come across a question like this, "Hey everyone! I want to write a novel but I don't have any ideas. Can you give me some?"

There are many things wrong with this question. First of all, they're my ideas. If I gave them to you, well then they wouldn't be mine would they? Imagine me, going to the book store, only to find a book about my original idea, written by someone else. That would really miff me off.

That brings me to my next point. If I were to give you my ideas, you'd get to the second page and stop writing because, guess what, they're my ideas and you don't know how to expand on them!

I have the complete opposite problem of a person like this. I make up so many different plot ideas that I don't have time to write them all down. And believe it or not, most of them would be good enough to turn into a novel; meaning they're not just nonsense stories.

Along those lines, when I'm asked to write a short story for school, my mind just wanders and expands the idea I come up with to the point where I'm writing an excerpt of a trilogy I just came up with instead of the short story I was supposed to write.

I have to limit myself to writing down only the best of the best ideas, and right now, I have enough ideas written to keep me busy for quite some time.

Do you like to write? And if so, how are you at coming up with ideas?

On Reading...

It's an amazing thing, reading a novel. How our minds can recognize and contemplate these symbols that are put together to form words. Then how we recognize those words and put them together to form a sentence. Eventually we have a novel, we feel connected to these people we don't know and that likely never existed, we feel a need to be in this world that doesn't exist, even if it's plagued by evil rulers and monsters. Why is this? Why do we want these things?

I pin it to the fact that, in most cases, the hero/heroine turns out in the best way possible, either defeating the arch-nemesis or ending up happily ever after. But then why do we feel this way before we even get to the end?

Personally, I think the reader is bored with their normal life, going to school or work day after day. We all want and need something different every once in a while. That's what makes reading so enjoyable: we get to leave our life and live in the place of someone special for once. We want this great adventure to save the world, to fall in true unbreakable and uncontested love, and then once everything is over, know that the rest of our lives will be perfect (unless, of course, there's a sequel).

But what I'd like to know is, if you really had the option to be a Harry Potter or an Eragon or whoever your favorite book character is, would you choose to be? Would you go through all of those challenges without knowing you'd eventually overcome evil, or whatever it is your conflict might be? Think about it...

A Brief Synopsis....

Having recently finished writing my first complete novel I've really been getting into the whole literary world. It's a crazy place filled with countless literary agents who need to be sifted through and studied before finally sending a Query Letter. Everyone wants a little something different, so finding the right person is hard to do...and that's about where I am now.

I am an avid reader and really enjoy a lot of different works from Stephen King to Kurt Vonnegut to J.K. Rowling. Romance...not really my thing. I do enjoy a bit while intertwined with an intense thriller but that's pretty much it.

Suspense, thrillers, and action/adventure is where I'm at (as well as a few fantasy novels although you may call some of the action/adventure I'm referring to as fantasy). Some books I'll read within a day or two (with a possible all-nighter for the really good ones) because I can be a bit obsessive when I find something I like, but most will be read over a week.
So here's the question:

What is you're favorite genre of books?