Seven
I inherited my love of reading from one of my older brothers, and naturally – like a lot of boys – gravitated to the allure of fantasy. Reading The Lord of the Rings as a 12-year-old was as close to a divine experience as I’d ever had. It wasn’t just the story, although there’s enough in that to inspire awe and wonder. But what overwhelmed me more was the history this world contained – a history that spanned millennia and was imbued in every bit of geography, motivated every character, and contextualized every event. One of my issues with storytelling is when it feels like the story, or the world…
No Doubt
As a writer, there’s lots of stuff you’ll doubt. On that list will be doubts … if your story works if the structure is sound if the plot/content is coherent if the characters are compelling if the prose is engaging if anybody will like it if everybody (who likes it) is humouring you if you’re any good. There’s other stuff. But that’s a shortlist. You try to control as much of it as you can. You do this through revision, by getting opinions from alpha readers, and – most of all – by being honest with yourself. Doubt’s a good thing, though. Well, in some ways at least. It forces…