Strange : is this a lockdown thing?

Who knows where stories come from? Terry Pretchett suggested they fly around in the ether until they hit a receptive mind :-) . Well done for being creative in these difficult times - it's the opposite to most creative people I know (including me) who've found creativity elusive since March. If you want some discipline for getting it down on paper, November is National Novel Writing Month. Why not give it a go? nanowrimo.org/

I joined a I3A creative writing group, and after being asked to set a short story in a place I used to know well, found that the characters 'talked' to me in bed, and insisted on my writing their story - my short story turned into chapter one, and I have written chapters 2,3,4,6,8.9.20 and 21, as what will come towards the end, wont wait! Write it down. Lots of authors write later chapters earlier - even crime novels - then they know what clues to leave! WRITE IT - and good luck!

Why not write it down and see how it turns out?
Maybe you have had it bubbling in your brain for years and because life happens, it just hasn't made itself known?

Go for it BBbevan. I have been researching our family history for years and with Covid finally had the time to start writing a book including whatever was happening in the area at the time my ancestors were alive. Two books are now printed and working on book three. It is such a great feeling holding a book you have written yourself.

You should definitely go for it! About 25 years ago I started "writing" , what I considered to be, a fantastic novel in my head just as I was dropping off to sleep. Every morning I had forgotten every word! I wish now that I had written it all down - so don't have regrets - get those words down on paper!

I started to write a book about 20 some years ago, when I had access to a computer at work and was underemployed. It went quite well and the one person I trusted to give me an honest opinion was very enthusiastic. I then left that company and went through a maelstrom of change for the next few years and then, when I retired, pulled it up and had a look at it.

Unfortunately, by then my arthritis meant that I cannot type well enough to do as much as I'd like and is necessary to do any more.

What I do use it for, however, is to put myself to sleep. I have written the entire book in my head and then gone back and redeveloped sections ad nauseaum. I turn out the light, snuggle down and think to myself "Now, which bit am I going to go over tonight?"

It's become my favourite way to go to sleep!

I've been writing our family history in my head for years. My daughter says I must write it down. I may run out of time!

Me too inishowen

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

So please write that book! Pinterest has some good ideas. I have now written 2 books and several short stories. My problem is that I am a perfectionist. I just keep amending my writing and that means I will never publish it. When I write I think "So this is what Charles Dickens felt. " I joined Jericho Writers and they are very helpful but you do have to pay, I think its about £30 a month. All the best to you and all aspiring writers.

If not a whole book how about starting with short stories? Just to get used to actually getting it down on paper rather than floating around in your head.
Alternatively, flash fiction is fun and a great discipline for editing. I sometimes do 100 word ones but there are even 6 word ones to have a go at. There are various websites which publish them. I usually send mine to Friday flash fiction. Google it.

Oh please write it BB. What a lovely way to beat the corona blues. Best of luck.

BBbevan: That's really cool!!! I hope that happens to me one day!

Oh please do write your book. A friend of mine had written poems all her life, some only in her head, but never imagined anyone else would be interested in them. Then a chance meeting with a local author prompted her to gather them all together and offer them to a publisher. She was very sceptical about it. Two books of her poems were published (she was 84 then) and have sold well. Don't underestimate your talent! Good luck, I'll look forward to meeting you on the bookshelves!

According to a very well known author I watched on tv only last week you have approached your writing in the best way. His advice was have the beginning and ending then fill in the middle. Why not give it a go, you'll never know if you have talent if you don't and it will be a waste of your time.

Write it down - or dictate it so it's recorded somewhere

At the beginning of lockdown a lot of people rediscovered hobbies they now found they had time to follow. Other people found new hobbies or did online courses to fill their time and expand their knowledge. I wrote a poem, just came into my head on a morning walk and wrote it down when I got home. I had time and heads pace for doing this. I think you have found time and headspace for planning your first novel. The next step is to write it. Give it a go, you never know!

Ooh please write it

My grandmother was very gifted like this but never wrote anything down to my eternal regret. Do go for it, I think it will be so good for you to process it and brilliant for all of us if it gets published!

BBevan Do go ahead and get it written down it would be wonderful for us all to say we have a published author as a virtual friend

I “wrote” a story when I was about seven years old. I told it to my Mum. It involved her falling into the fire she was lighting and burning to death. My older brother was to go and live with an Aunt whose son was the same age, two younger brothers were to live with a family friend whose baby had died a few days after he was born and I would live with my cousin who had two babies as I loved to play with them. Fortunately I inherited my mum’s dark sense of humour so it just made her ? laugh.

Sounds to me like a journal waiting to happen. Why not jot down the bits that are in your head and clear on a daily basis? If they are not chronologically accurate, you can deal with that in due course and add dates as and when you remember the actual timeline. Could be very therapeautic and certainly in no way negative even if your scribbling never reaches book format. Great stuff!

BBbevan, I can only echo what others are saying get writing. It shows that your brain cells are working so keep them exercised and thought processes going. It will be therapeutic in many ways and may even lead to a best seller.

Good luck.

What a wonderfully creative way to deal with the times we now inhabit. Please do write it. I hope it gives you the best sort of escape from the wretched virus, and that you enjoy your characters as they develop and join in. All the best with it.

glammananna- there are quite a few published authors on GN!