My Process

I love to write. It has been a passion of mine since I was a little boy. I've always been creative, and when I was younger I would make up stories and tell them to myself. Since I was also terribly shy and introverted, I didn't have many friends and was often lonely, so my stories kept me company in some sense. I got into writing so I could have an outlet for this wealth of creativity I possessed. I loved doing creative writing in school because it gave me an excuse to make up characters and tell their stories.

The fiction I write is character and dialogue driven. I usually tell my stories from a first person perspective because that's how I came up with my stories when I was younger. It also gives the story a more personal feel for me, like I'm viewing the world through his or her eyes. My stories also have a ton of dialogue, and any exposition is short and to the point. I will start with a general idea of where I want the story to go, but since the characters steer the story, the general idea is more of a guideline rather than a concrete plot. I think my extensive use of dialogue stems from watching tons of movies and TV, so my writing style reflects this.

My characters are inspired mostly by people I know. My central characters are almost always male, and lately have been idealized versions of myself. I've toyed with the idea of writing something with a female lead, but I don't know if I can pull it off. I think too much like a guy, and I don't know if I can write her in a feminine way, but I welcome the challenge of leaving my comfort zone and trying something bold. Most of my work is set in modern times, but I've kicked around some ideas of writing some period pieces. Since I mostly read non-fiction, I've also considered writing some pieces on topics I research.

One of the main reasons I set up a profile here is to overcome my fear of criticism. It used to be that I never shared my writings with anyone because I was afraid they wouldn't like them. I come from a place where creativity isn't exactly encouraged, and having people tell me that my stories are stupid or pointless is crushing. I'm sure I'm not the only person on this forum that has been through something similar or worse, and maybe getting feedback from other writers will help me kill the negative connotation of criticism that I've built up in my head all these years. Also, I would like to be better at giving feedback and encouragement. I'm kind of a thumbs up/thumbs down kind of critic.

So, thanks for reading this, and I hope you continue to read my writings, and I look forward to reading some of yours.