Welcome back to another Open Book Blog Hop!

Today’s question is: why do you write, and why do you write what you write?

And remember to pay a visit to my fellow writers to see what they have come up with. You can find their works here!

Let’s start with the first part of this question – why do I write? I’ve always loved reading. Give me a good book and I’ll be as happy as a pig in muck. I love to loose myself in the narrative. Back at school, I also loved writing stories. It was another outlet for my imagination. As an adult I spun my love of books into a blog – I review the books I read to share my thoughts with other people. Then one day I thought, it’s one thing to review what others have written, but just how easy is it to write something of my own? So I dabbled with some short stories, and a failed attempt at a novel. Until an idea struck. An idea with power. An idea I could not shake. It had to be developed, to be written, to be told.

And I love the process! The seed of an idea starts to germinate in my mind. It sprouts, grows, flourishes into something more. I am not much of a plotter when it comes to writing. I am much more of a panster. The is, I fly by the seat of my pants. I have some vague notions of what is going to happen somewhere down the line, but much of the story is a complete surprise to me until I type the words out. But the process is incredible. There is something visceral about seeing narratives and characters, lives and worlds form with every keystroke. I think that may be, weirdly, why I am also somewhat obsessed with old typewriters. I’ve love a vintage, mechanical piece to tap out my stories on. The pressure of the key, the satisfying clack as the strike bar embeds letters on paper, the clicking of the carriage return. It’s something that speaks to me.

But why do I write what I write? Simple really – the voices tell me to. Put down the straight jacket, I am not headed for the padded cell just yet. I mean the characters, their voices. I am sure many other authors know what I mean. Our characters speak to us. They tell us what they are up to. I have passions and intersts, sure. I am fascinated by steampunk and history. I love horror, and crime. So to some extent these things very much influence my writing. But ultimately, it all boils down to the voices, and more accurately, which one shouts the loudest. Edison Crow and Selah spoke to me. Their story needed to be told, and so Chasing Shadows was born. With my short stories, the smallest thing can inspire an idea that needs to be written. Many authors are likely far more meticulous and organised than I. They know what they are writing before they start. Not me. It’s more akin to riding a runaway rollercoaster in the dark. I know where I am starting. I might even know where I am going to end up. But how I get there? No idea, but it sure has hell is going to be a fun ride getting there!