WordPress suggested the first post should be to introduce yourself. So hi. I’m a writer. I learned to call myself this during a writing retreat I attended in the middle of June this year. Before this retreat, I would say “I write”, but I never considered myself a writer. I wrote things, sure, but to say the actual word – writer – seemed not only daunting, but also pretentious to me.

Did I write? Yes. Did people read my writing? Yes. Did I get positive feedback on it? Yes. Did I think of myself as a writer? No.

Why is this? Maybe I thought my writing wasn’t serious. It was serious to me, of course. I enjoyed the process immensely. I enjoyed the instant feedback of my fans (I have fans!). The writing I did…scratch that…do…is fanfiction writing. I know, I know. Some people consider it silly, but it’s actually a valid form of writing for reasons I won’t get into today. Perhaps another time as this is just an introduction to me.

I personally think it is a great way to start out in writing. You can concentrate on your weaknesses and ‘practice’ writing in a way that allows you much more freedom. Your characters are already set and, if you’re writing in the world of your fandom, there’s no world-building to do. I believed that my weaknesses were plot, description, and dialogue. I was able to work on all of these without getting bogged down in the other important things: characters and world.

I will write a whole other blog post about the writing retreat I attended, but I will say here and now that it completely changed my outlook on my own talent. I know I’m not there yet. I may not ever be, but I certainly have the confidence to work at it. Not only that I have the confidence to share it with people I know.

I’ve written fanfiction for two years and posted my first online over a year ago. I have only shared it with one other person that I know in ‘real life’. I still am hesitant to share it with the people in my life. It’s easier to have complete strangers read it than to have someone I see every day read it. I’ll still probably keep that hidden, but I was able to write snippets of things while at this writing retreat that were original and I’d like to share those. Hence this writing blog. My hope is to get those snippets posted soon – and to keep writing and sharing here for anyone curious enough to watch my journey.

As for me? I work in media. I’m a huge geek and very much into things like the Avengers, Star Wars, Disney, Harry Potter, and my favorite fandoms (which include Voltron and Ed, Edd and Eddy). We travel a lot, and I may end up writing about that. I read when I can, though that has died down quite a bit since I write so much now. I may write about what I read. Reading, travel, and crafts are the things I love – as well as spending time with the husband, our friends, and our cat.

I look forward to sharing with you, and I hope you enjoy what I share.