The Joys of Creative Writing by Allison Symes

Image Credit:  One photo taken by me, Allison Symes. Other images created in Book Brush using Pixabay photos.

It has been a funny month. Had a fabulous Scottish holiday. Then came home after a swimming session to find I’d been burgled. Thankfully my dog was okay. They locked her in a room. We’re okay but it has brought home the joys of creative writing. I planned to write about this topic anyway but it is with more feeling I do so now!

 

 

Why? Because it was therapeutic to get back to writing after dealing with other matters. It was a relief to be creating characters for stories and working out ideas for blogs, including this one. It was good to resume my normal writing life.

There is something about the creative arts which is good for us. I guess it is because they give us an outlet. I have yet to decide whether some nasty burglar gets their comeuppance in a future flash fiction story. If I do this, I shall enjoy every moment of writing it! I suspect you’ve seen the coffee mug slogan “never upset a writer, they’ll kill you in their next book”. Always makes me laugh. Now, I might be that writer who has been upset!

Also in creating characters for fiction and working out blogs, I’m doing something positive which keeps my attention away from anything bothering me and/or the dismal news. I’ll take that as a win.

 

I love creating characters and giving them dilemmas. I love inventing their dialogue/thoughts. I love putting that all together in what I hope is an interesting way. I love editing too. As well as being an editor now, which obviously colours my view, the moment I realised decent editing was making all the difference to my having acceptances or not, that was when I fell in love with editing. 

 

Writing has also given me a deeper appreciation for stories by other writers. I guess it is because I know something of the work which has gone into creating the tales. I can learn from how other writers have gone about creating realistic dialogue for their creations. 

I can learn from how and where they place red herrings (especially true for crime fiction). I believe writers do effectively have a greater appreciation of books and stories because of our own efforts crafting our tales. 

 

One major joy is, of course, meeting other writers at various events, online and in person. On my book shelves, I have various volumes written by friends, as well as my books and anthologies I’ve contributed to. I think of these as my shelves of joy because they always make me smile.

One story leads to another being written and then another. As well as developing wonderful friendships, meeting other writers has helped me discover competitions, markets, and find places of advice (The Society of Authors for one - I was told about them by another writer a long time ago).

Creative writing is the joy that keeps on giving. I hope you find this is true for you too.