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So, you've decided you want to be an author. The only problem now is knowing what to write about.

Let me share my own experience of finding what to write about...

In July 2013, newly recovered from a serious bout of depression, I was struck one day with a Eureka moment - I wanted to be an author. I'd been writing blogs on and off for a few years and had seen my writing skills and confidence steadily improve. Then, a few weeks later, the idea for my first novel came to me; My first novel was to be a humorous look at the boundaries of freedom and morality and what happens when we transgress them.

Except, there was one problem. A big one. Every time I sat down to write some more of my book, it felt like pulling teeth. It just wasn't enjoyable. It was like trying to take a dog for a walk, except the dog keeps locking up, imploring you with big puppy dog eyes not to go that way. Yes, my unconscious mind is a dog - a rather handsome brute at that.

It was a weird feeling being so conflicted; I knew I enjoyed writing. Creative blog posts seemed to just flow out of me, it felt like play, no real exertion required. And I knew I loved the grand overarching ideas in the book, I just didn't want to fill in the details. I was like a painter who was content to simply join the dots and leave the colouring in to someone else.

Feeling a bit disheartened, around November 2013 I decided to admit defeat to myself, having written just a handful of pages towards my novel. I didn't know what else I wanted to write about, but I just decided to have faith that my unconscious would serve up an appropriate idea at the right  time, like a diligent butler who knows exactly how long to wait before serving your delicious meal.

In December 2013, a typically silly conversation with a friend threw up an idea. We'd come up with alternative slogans for multi-national brands such as Nike.

There was no real point to this exercise, we were just amusing ourselves. My friend came up with many of the alternate slogans and then I found suitable images, creating meme-like pictures which I then posted to Imgur.

Did this catapult me to fame and fortune? Err, No. It seemed that almost everyone except for my friend and I absolutely hated it. Never mind, at least my friend and I had amused ourselves.

Even though this little exercise didn't really have much to do with writing, this is where I learned a couple of highly valuable lessons:

  1. When I'm being creative, I have to do it for myself, not to please anyone else. That's how I'll produce my best, most original work, even if no-one else understands or likes it.
  2. I do my best work when I'm having fun. It's non-negotiable for me; If I'm not having fun then there's just no point.

Over the Christmas period, I just happened to be thinking about some of the most fun times in my life. It's fair to say I have some quite interesting stories of debauchery to tell, especially from my late teens and early twenties. As I replayed these stories in my mind, I was making myself chuckle. It felt good. The beginnings of an idea started to form.

I emailed the friend I'd created the alternate slogans with. I asked him what he thought about me writing a novel about a young man's adventures with sex, drugs and alcohol, based loosely on some of my own experiences and those of my friends.

I had a number of concerns, not least the fact that just because I found the stories interesting and amusing, that didn't mean anyone else would.

My friend, in his typical fashion, offered some brilliant advice: Just write the stories and worry about everything else afterwards.

I began writing hedonistic stories in early January 2014. Immediately I felt I was onto a winner. The words just flowed out of me. I was making myself laugh as I wrote, which was surely a good sign. After each chapter was written, I'd ask myself which story would be the most fun to write next. I didn't care about chronology at this point, I just wanted to get the stories written down.

They were rough efforts, with numerous typos, grammatical issues and paragraphs that didn't flow very well. But I knew I had the bare bones of something special.

I wrote the entire first draft of 30,000 words in about a week. I was like a man possessed. I've never written so much per day in my life, even at University. I even wondered if I'd ever be this prolific again.

Initial feedback from a few close friends was very positive. If I could smooth out the rough edges, I knew this could be something great.

It's now 24th February and I've been published for just over 1 week; the paperback and Kindle versions of my book are available on the Amazon websites across the globe.

It's been a lot of hard work, especially the 2nd draft, but my confidence and enthusiasm have been buoyed by the near-unanimous support of my friends. Plus, a ridiculously tight deadline of Valentine's Day (February 14th) helped to keep me going.

To summarise: How do you pick ideas to write about? Just pick something that feels like it'll be fun for you to write. Stop analysing and start writing ASAP. Then ask yourself how the writing feels? Are you enjoying it? Listen to your gut feeling, it's an invaluable guide in any kind of creative endeavour.

Try to suspend judgement initially. Don't be too critical of your work; Focus on the best bits. You can iron out the creases later.

Good luck!

--

Vincent Vignette is a published author. His debut novella, A Young Geek’s Tale: Real Sex with a Twist of Humour was released on 14th February 2014 and is available in Kindle and Paperback editions. Buy your copy from Amazon US or Amazon UK.

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