Hello Everybody!

Hello,

Thank you for coming to visit my nice new blog. I've never done this before, and I'm not sure how this will go, but for now let's start at the beginning - why I am here and why I am writing this blog.

Since being about six, I have wanted to be a writer. I fell in love with reading very quickly and have had a very strong passion for the written word ever since. It's a great feeling and I would love it if I could make somebody else feel the same way. That is the primary reason (or so I like to tell people) that I want to become a writer. Of course, making heaps of money would also be welcome, and that's probably another reason.

For years I just sat around and "hoped" that I'd become a writer. True this wasn't particularly constructive, but when you're six years old and far too shy to go about asking people about how to become a writer, it's about all you can do. But then at the age of fourteen the wonders of the internet introduced me to the magic of fan-fiction.

Fan-fiction is an excellent way for aspiring writers to hone their skills and get much needed feedback from other aspiring writers. Additionally friendships can form as well as the satisfaction of seeing your favourite characters do whatever you want.

Of course, fan-fiction has its drawbacks: It's very difficult trying to do an original piece when a little voice in your head is insisting that this would make a great fan-fiction if you only swapped your carefully constructed main character for, say, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII. It's very tempting to keep going back to fan-fiction as it is unspeakably easier to do than original work, but the rewards are not the same.

Last year, at the age of 22, I felt ready to start my writing career. The eight years of fan-fiction writing had improved my writing ability considerably to the point where I felt ready to try a professional writing project. But how to start? Where to go? I hadn't a clue how to even begin promoting my work beyond the fanfiction sites that I visited. Then last christmas I discovered a magazine called Writers' Forum.

Despite my whining at the poor performance of my local bus services (which I take every opportunity to do) I must admit that using public transport was the best thing that happened to me when I walked into the little magazine shop to pass the time waiting for my bus. I picked up the copy of Writers' Forum and thumbed through a couple of pages.

A minute later I was rushing to the counter and fishing the money out of my purse without bothering to wonder how I had money in there! Writers' Forum is a brilliant magazine full of tips, quizzes and articles. They even wrote a lovely big article recognising the world of fan-fiction! But what is most important is that they tell you ways to promote your writing.

So here I am. Now, if Writers' Forum told me that I'd become a better author if I gave up breathing, I wouldn't do it. But a regular tip is: Start a Blog. This didn't sound too taxing, so I gave it a go.

Hopefully I'll be using this to fill everyone in on my writing projects in the future.

HC Clarke

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