“I guess, I’ll always be writing, something” Gun Roswell

The kind of writer I am

Picture a dim lit room, people gathered together, all sitting neatly in a circle, no one speaks, until:

“Hello everyone, my name is Gun, and I am a writer. I’ve been writing non-stop for one hundred and twenty days.”

I am the kind of writer, whom every text book, guide following, planning the hell out things before doing – person loves to hate. You see, I don’t follow any rules. And most importantly, I did not go to any schools.

That is not entirely true, since my alter ego, the daytime persona if you will, is an IT worker, and has trained herself, a lot! But getting back to the subject of writing. I must have started doodling around the age of five, writing scripts to plays I then forced my family to sit in and watch. During the school years, writing essays once a week was a must and then in my early teens, I wrote continuation to my favourite TV shows, which I later found out was also referred to as fan fiction.

I am an on and off writer, launching my writing efforts between ten year intervals. I already tried the online writing way back when, when no blogs or other existed, but after five or so years, something else came up, like so many times before. But now, I am having a midlife crisis, of sorts, or at least, that is what I like to call it. I feel, my time is running out and I need to stop procrastinating. Guess what, I started a blog. It’s now on its forth year and currently, I am posting daily. What it means is that, I have scheduled my poetry, short stories and pictures to publish everyday. I have slowly but surely gained readers and am socializing in return on their sites.

But that’s not all. Poetry, I also write daily, each and every day, like a total slave! Yeah, I do mostly rhyme, which works for me just fine. But, I also write short tales and odd tales on top of that. But, there is more! How much more? Well, read further and you’ll find out!

And here is the surprise: I also write fan fiction, and…. drum roll… I have started to write my own book series too! Can you imagine!? I surely can’t. Why, you ask? Well, It was supposed to be a script for a movie or TV-series, but it turned out to be more than that. Did I mention I have written only one complete script in the early nineties? I didn’t? Well, I have. And here is the catch why I haven’t written any more since: I am from Finland and supposedly speak Finnish, but I write in English only. What? Yes, that is what I do. So here is what happened. I translated the script to Finnish and offered it to a few production agencies here in Finntown. Guess what the response was? Yep, not for us, or too American in our taste. So, that was the end of that, for a while at least.

Being a writer of any kind has never fully died and I have been producing written stuff in one format or another, mostly technical manuals or formal documents. I even credit documentation as a skill on my CV! But writing total fiction, that, my friends, is a completely different story.

And here is where I am today: This year, since June, I have been writing non stop: three poems a day, five pages (minimum) of novel, I have completed three unfinished fan fiction works and I shoot a lot of photos. Oh, did I mention I have been photographing, a lot, since I was ten? Well, now you know that too. So, my goal is to finally get the book or series done and self publish most likely is the option. Maybe something more, or then not, who knows. But as it is I will never stop writing. It seems to be a curse or maybe a blessing, but there are too many plays, and shows going on in my head, I just have to write them down.

Oh, and on my comment in the beginning and what I meant by the rules; well, I have read so many books, followed so may sites and gotten thousands of emails on writing “how-to’s” I realized after reading most, that they cancel each other out in the end, and the best process is the process you feel is the right one for you. You see, I used to try to plan and then, nothing worked and then I started censoring myself, because I was not able to produce according to guidelines. Then I think I read something, maybe a quote or similar and realized, I just needed to sit down and write. And, as I did that, without any expectations, a blank page in front of me, all of a sudden, the characters came live and started guiding the story. And as for the time and place and tools, well, between dusk and dawn (most likely), with pad, phone or computer, sometimes post-it notes and where ever the inspiration strikes, but most usually around midnight.

So, if you are still questioning yourself, don’t, sit down and start writing. Oh, and this is not a guide of how to, just how I do. Others may enjoy a different approach to writing and like the rules and structure. But the only advice I would like to convey is: Never, ever stop writing.

That’s all Folks!