Well, Hi There!!

Hi everybody, Selma here.

When Karen asked me if I would consider writing with her on her blog about writing I jumped at the chance. Literally. I actually went all girly for a moment and jumped and clapped at the same time. My housemaid’s knee has been playing up ever since.

I adore Karen. I first met her about 5 or 6 years ago on the Writers Weekly forum. I had never heard of writing forums or blogs or anything like that before Writers Weekly and when I came across Ms Karen and all the other amazing writers on that forum I was hooked.

Karen is a highly entertaining, imaginative, warm and engaging writer and although I have never physically met her in person I know her well enough from emails and blog posts and so on to know that she is exactly the same in person.

But don’t let my effusiveness fool you into thinking that my purpose here is just to sing the praises of Ms Karen. That is important, but what is just as important is talking about this business of writing. The pleasure, the pain, the chipped nailpolish from pounding on your computer keyboard, the dog eared thesaurus that you borrowed from your friend who no longer wants it back because she is worried about the brown stains on P.123 (they are coffee stains but she just wont’ believe me), the writer’s block, the verbal diarrhoea, the despair of rejection, the elation of acceptance. You name it, if it pertains to writing we’re going to be talking about it.

So who am I  anyway to be talking about writing?

In the words of one of my personal idols – Mr. Austin Danger Powers – allow myself to introduce myself.

Hi. I am Selma. I write a blog all the way from Sydney, Australia called Selma In The City. I am probably best categorised as a personal blogger, although I do write fiction.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Postgraduate Diploma in Editing and Professional Writing. I worked as a teacher for 15 years and currently work as an editor on a freelance basis. I have worked for newspapers, independent publishers, and for an ill-fated 6 months for a largish publisher. I have edited everything from bus timetables to novels, but my desire, my dream is to be a novelist.

Many people tell me that I can write, but sometimes I wonder. It can be very difficult to get anywhere even if you are an adequate writer. In my heart I know I can write, but my major problem is letting outside factors distract me from getting my novels done – things such as having to pay the rent or raise my son.

Many people also suggest I enrol in a creative writing course at university or college. It is true that such courses can often fast track a writer to publishing success but they are expensive and often churn out writers with very similar styles and perspectives.

I have the secret to becoming a better writer. I’m going to tell you what it is right now and you won’t even have to pay for it. The secret to becoming a better writer, to perhaps being a writer that gets published is  – *drumroll* – TO WRITE!!!

I know. It’s so obvious you’re sorry you didn’t think of it, aren’t you?

I have to tell you that this is a secret that actually works.

Almost two years ago I started my blog. Believe it or not it was on the recommendation of my therapist who felt it would help me get over a bout of depression. One of the reasons I was depressed was because I had been dropped by a big time publisher. I will fill you in on that tale of woe in a later post, but getting dropped really affected my confidence.

So I started to blog and write stories. And I found I had an audience. And I got involved in writing communities. And I even managed to get several short stories published. And even though I still couldn’t remember the difference between stationery and stationary, my confidence grew.

If you want to write fiction and you don’t know where to start, why not test the waters via blogging? There are lots and lots of wonderful people out there who will welcome you into their communities and give you feedback on your writing. More importantly, it will get you writing every day or at least several times a week. You will be surprised how quickly you improve and how many contacts you make.

I recommend it as a great place to start honing your craft.