How I got into writing

First of all I am not a writer I am a storyteller, there is a difference. A writer creates stories but focuses a lot more on the prose and verbal finesse, whereas a storyteller focuses more on the plot and the dialogue. My aim is to create great stories, and use the prose to enhance it all, not the other way around.

I will post sometime in the future about how I created my DS9: the continuation series, but this is series of mine is what got me into writing. To sum up briefly I was forteen or fifteen when an idea came to mind to continue on from where Deep Space Nine (the 4th Star Trek series) left. I spent three or so years developing the entire plot for all seven seasons of my series. It was about two years ago that I started adding dialogue and roughly dabbling with scripts and stuff.

I did this out of curiosity, and then I decided just over a year ago that I wanted to actually write these stories of mine, flesh them out. I knocked up my first story in two months and it was riddled with errors, but it was through repeated rejections of the story (when submitted to SLWalker) did I develop the most rudimentary skills regarding how to write a decent and coherent story. However this post is about how I got into writing, not how I developed my skills.

The stories I post are for both my entertainment and others. Each story I’ve created there is something I like about it plot-wise (or really love), or it could be certain character development which I adore. Basically if I get that same feeling of goodness inside my heart which I get from watching great Star Trek episodes, then I just know this stories plot is a good one, and with some hard work I will have at the very least a decent story.

Ultimately I write for the fun of it, and I like reviews (especially ones with constructive criticism) because they help me refine my skills. When I received some favorable reviews on Ad Astra for my first story Secrets and Lies that spurred me on to keep writing my stories, and to keep pushing forwards. Another reason why I got into writing was the creative freedom I had with my DS9: the continuation series. Creative freedom is an important thing because it means you are less constrained by the rigours of canon.

On a different note a more powerful writing influence, and a precursor to how I picked up writing as a hobby, are various films, music and real-world events. The Godfrey Reggio film Koyaanisqatsi (and the music Philip Glass composed for it) is probably one of my biggest influences with writing. An even more important influence is my religion, I am a member of the Baha’i Faith, founded by Baha’u’llah, a Manifestation of God. As such I am spiritual and I like to apply morale and spiritual themes to my series.

I don’t preach, I will never preach, but my DS9 series many a time examines morality and spirituality, and those two themes are the core of Star Trek (that and sci-fi and action). Even if I was not religious, I would still have an interest in spirituality. With writing I keep a balanced approach to make sure both sides (in a story) have reasons for what they are doing, and sometimes the good guys ‘win’ but most of the time with my stories one problem is resolved but others still remain. At the very least I want to try and explain to the reader why both sides feel they are right, whether either one (or both) is wrong is up for you the reader to decide.

Truth is in some of the stories I write even I’m not sure who has the morale high ground, and I prefer it that way. My series universe is a bit like Earth today. The citizens of the Federation have it good, but there are many other forces out there like the Breen, Romulans, Cardassians, Dominion and Tren, and the interactions between all six is somewhat resemblant of global affairs on Earth.

Hope this explains a few things.

Link to my DS9: the continuation series: DS9: the continuation

Link to Secrets and Lies: Secrets and Lies

And two links about the Bahai Faith (if you are curious): http://www.bahai.org/ , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1%27%C3%AD_Faith