One day I was fantasising about an event that happened many years ago. In my fantasy events went rather differently to the actuality (no surprises there) Influenced by what I had read on this site, I started to flesh out the incident with more detail. Before I knew where I was, I had written a couple of thousand words. Events have consequences so I wrote about those and then I found myself constructing timelines and dramatis personae.
That story was semi-autobiographical. They say you should write about what you know, and a lot of my life experiences influenced it. When it progressed to the point where I actually considered putting it up, I fretted that I had put in too many identifying features and people might start to make connections to real events.
Somewhat reluctantly I gave up on the idea. But it niggled at me. I had enjoyed the creative process. So I started to rewrite it and discovered that my imagination (often at 4am for some reason) was up to the task of inventing different scenarios, less personal ones. The story had a happy ending because I’m a romantic. (That’s how I know it’s not my life I’m writing about.) To my complete amazement it was positively received and so I continued to submit works for people to read (and hopefully enjoy).
Since then I’ve diverged quite a long way from the genesis of my writing. Kind voices have encouraged me to dip my toe in the waters of the social aspects of the site. I don’t use any social media and so I hope you’ll be patient with me if I commit any faux pas. Similarly, my output has been rather episodic but the plan from here on is to publish something every couple of months. I hope to hear from you either via comments or DM.