The magic of creation

Writing isn’t a habit. It is a way of life for many people. Some may do it full time, some part time, some may have turned it into a job and some may write just for themselves. But writing is not as easy as it may sounds.

I was searching the internet and I found some very interesting words from a very interested man. George R.R. Martin, along with other things, when someone asked him advice for a new writer, he said:


“Write every day, even if it is only a page or two. The more you write, the better you’ll get. But don’t write in my universe, or Tolkien’s, or the Marvel universe, or the Star Trek universe, or any other borrowed background. Every writer needs to learn to create his own characters, worlds, and settings. Using someone else’s world is the lazy way out. If you don’t exercise those “literary muscles,” you will never develop them.”

These words have stuck into my mind. Writing in a “borrowed universe” it is indeed easier since you are only worried about your story and your characters. But think about creating a whole new universe! In that case you have to create everything from scratch! And by everything I mean every little creature that may live in your world. You have to make it real, logical, shape it in your way, put the rules and the laws. This is a very big work to do, but it is true that you will exercise those “literary muscles.” And frankly, that is the best exercise of all!  

In a position like this, I found myself when I was writing my second novel. I have finished the first draft but I have left it there since I had to edit DAZED. But the time will come that I will start editing that book and there are a lot to be done. It is a complicated book for me, since the story takes place in two different worlds and one of them, is a whole new universe! The first draft may have ended fast, but I have to shape this universe, especially since the story has a sequel, which I haven’t started yet, and make it real!

Writing is so much more than sitting in front of your computer and typing. Writing, like a fellow writer, Ksenia Anske, had said “is like pulling strands out of your soul, one by one, until one day instead of a mess it finally looks like a story.”

This is the magic of creation, right? You give your soul to it and hope that people will embrace it.