A brief history of (my) writing

I write, therefore I am

Hello, and welcome to this nonfiction blog about writing fiction.

I'm Felix, and this is my story about my storytelling :-)

I've been telling stories in one form or another for a long time. It started when I was a kid, playing with my friends in galaxies far, far away, or in enchanted forests filled with monsters, maidens, and treasure. Nothing special about that, really. Most kids are like that. Then, as a teenager, I discovered role-playing games. They became a new venue for storytelling. Again, nothing unique or spectacular about it.

However, at some point, I began writing down stories. Not entirely sure when it was sufficiently structured to be called "writing" with the aim of producing something coherent I could share with an audience. Around the year 2000 is my best guess. At the time, said audience was strictly limited to friends and confidantes.

Things began to change in 2014. That's the year I stumbled upon watpad.com and began interacting with other amateur writers and sharing my work. It was learning by doing, so I wrote a lot, and my understanding of the author's craft improved dramatically.

In 2016 I won a Wattys for Cabin Fever, my first full novel. It's an erotic romance sprinkled with a paranormal mystery. I think it's well-written, witty, and sexy as can be. Not sure if a story like that would get a Wattys these days, but back in the day, things were a little more flexible and playful.

2020 was the year I finished some serious editing to Cabin Fever (the version on Wattpad is the edited version) and self-published it on Amazon. Mission accomplished. Well done, Felix. Now get on with the rest of your writing career—this was just the beginning!

Self-pub is great, don't get me wrong. To me, it was an important milestone. Like most budding authors, however, I secretly yearn for the chance to be published for real by an actual publishing company.

But do I have what it takes? Am I a good enough writer? Are my stories original enough? Am I persistent enough? Can I, simply put, make it as a published author?

The honest answer is: I'm not sure—and that's probably not the correct answer if I want to make it...

Let me explain. I think I write unique and compelling stories and have a wellspring of new ideas that I can put on paper. My writing skills are sufficiently advanced compared to a lot of what's actually published (with the benefit of professional editors), yet I'm constantly improving.

So if I keep writing good stories and try to reach out to various publishers, someone will surely realize what a fantastic author I am and publish my novels. Only that's not how it works. You must work really hard—and be a bit lucky—to get noticed and picked up. It's not just about the writing; you must also market yourself.

That last bit is my "problem," I think. I'm just not that interested in the marketing part. I'm pretty happy with writing and sharing my stories for fun. If I got an offer to write full-time, I'd take it. But in the meantime, I'll continue in my day job (as an IT consultant—it pays well) and keep my writing as a hobby.

This brings me to the final part of this blog post. A summary of sorts.

I write for two reasons:

One: I love telling stories. Always have. To me, there is something intensely rewarding about the process of bringing together a great setting, compelling characters, and an exciting plot and transforming it into a whole that transcends the sum of its parts.

Two: I love sharing my stories with others. Much as I enjoy the process of writing, I love sharing my stories even more. Nothing is as elating as getting a vote of confidence from a reader or having someone leave an insightful review of my story.

And that's why I'll keep writing, even if that Book Deal never happens.

Felix