January 8 question – What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher/coach/spouse/friend/parent? Did you just “know” suddenly you wanted to write?

 

I’m sure I will not be the first aspiring fantasy author to say that my writing journey began with George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire.

I was a latecomer to the phenomenon that was the HBO TV series ‘Game of Thrones’. It wasn’t until around series 6 or 7 that my partner and I purchased a second-hand box set of seasons 1-5. We were hooked from episode 1. But to say we were a bit confused due to the volume of characters and information, is a bit of an understatement.

So, I figured that I may be able to learn more about the characters and the absorbing storyline from reading the books. I had an upcoming birthday, so asked for the first two books as presents, and duly started reading.

It did not take me long to realise that although I did understand more by reading the books, I still found it incredibly complicated. And it got me thinking about just how damn hard it must have been to write them, so my admiration for Mr. Martin began. I wanted to do what he had done – well, I will never be at his level in terms of a master storyteller – but I wanted to just attempt it at least.

That is how I fell in love with writing.

At that time – about a year ago from now – I decided to write a novel. Or try to. To be honest, I never thought I would even finish a chapter, let alone write a 101k-word novel that I am now proofing.

I am a 41-year-old fully qualified accountant that before last year had never written a word of fiction. Perhaps it is not the background that anyone would expect from a writer, but I can genuinely say that George RR Martin made me want to swap numbers for words and become a writer in my spare time. And for that, I have a lot to thank him for. Because I have now fallen in love with writing.

Never in my life had I thought about writing a novel. Until last year. Now, I cannot imagine my life without it. Every film or TV program I watch, I find inspiration or ideas for a future novel. Whenever I walk down the street, I see potential character bases. Every new place I visit is an idea for a location in a book I have not yet written. I’ve never thought like that before.

So, thankyou Mr. Martin. Thankyou for introducing me to the world of writing.

I have just been to see the new Star Wars film at the cinema with my partner. When I first started writing, I could only see myself as a fantasy writer. But after seeing this film, my second inspiration has presented itself, and maybe a dash at a sci-fi novel could be in order at some point in the future?

A writing journey can begin at any time, at any place. For anyone. As happy as I am to have found it, I do sometimes wish that I had discovered the journey a bit earlier in my life. But I’m not complaining – I have found it now, and I cannot wait to see where it takes me.