Writing is easy, right? Ok I'm not talking about writing a novel, anyone who's ever tried knows it isn't. What I'm talking about is the physical act of writing, of putting pen to paper.
Five year old kids can do it. Ninety-five year olds can do it. So what would you do if you suddenly couldn't write a word? Worse still you couldn't read either. That’s what happened to me. I was bed bound for six years with ME a.k.a. chronic fatigue syndrome. Don't be fooled by the name, it's not just feeling tired. I was too ill to do anything apart from lay in a darkened room, 24/7. I went from reading anything and everything to being too ill to focus on a page of writing. It just looked like black and white lines. I couldn't watch TV or listen to music either. It meant there were no distractions, no escape; just pain, fatigue and frustration. Of all three the frustration was the worst. I felt trapped in my body and the only escape I had was my imagination.
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I discovered National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) by accident .
If you haven’t heard of it, NaNoWriMo is an international programme that encourages participants to write 50,000 words in 30 days. That’s 1,667 words a day! |
I'm an ambitious optimist, so I decided to go for it.
I liked that it had a set start and end date. A trial I could go for, then give up if it went horribly wrong.
Best of all? I never needed to admit to anyone that while my stories had been growing inside my head so had my desire to become a "real" writer.
Not an ‘I only write I secret’ author but a real honest to goodness, ‘I have books in a book shop’ author.
I liked that it had a set start and end date. A trial I could go for, then give up if it went horribly wrong.
Best of all? I never needed to admit to anyone that while my stories had been growing inside my head so had my desire to become a "real" writer.
Not an ‘I only write I secret’ author but a real honest to goodness, ‘I have books in a book shop’ author.
And so it began...
On 1st November 2011 I sat down to my laptop and started to type and I haven’t stopped writing since.
I ended up doing two first draft novels during my first NaNoWriMo - 107,000 words!
One was brand new and the other was my favourite of all the stories stored in my head. It’s a story I still adore and one I want to come back to, to revise and publish.
I ended up doing two first draft novels during my first NaNoWriMo - 107,000 words!
One was brand new and the other was my favourite of all the stories stored in my head. It’s a story I still adore and one I want to come back to, to revise and publish.
But I got distracted
Shortly after completing NaNoWriMo I came up with another idea for a story and its this one I’ve been working on for the past few years.
The act of physically committing my stories to paper is a joy I can only attempt to describe.
It’s like flying free but being able to touch down and share the amazing sights I’ve seen with the people I love.
The act of physically committing my stories to paper is a joy I can only attempt to describe.
It’s like flying free but being able to touch down and share the amazing sights I’ve seen with the people I love.
My novel
Seeing is Believing
While I work on getting published I’m writing a serial story called Seeing is Believing.
It’s a FREE story delivered via email in 200 words a week.
It’s a FREE story delivered via email in 200 words a week.
Seeing is Believing is a Crowd Sourced Story that means you, the reader, get an input in the plot.
You vote on what happens next, the decisions the characters make and where the story is heading.
You vote on what happens next, the decisions the characters make and where the story is heading.
What's it about?
As I'm a fantasy and sci-fi girl at heart, my story had to have a twist to it.
Jess is losing her sight and with it her identity. After a series of unsettling incidents she starts to question everything. How can she be who she always was, when she can no longer trust what's right in front of her?
I've never done anything like this before. I've no idea what's going to happen but that's part of the fun of being a reader and a writer. All I know is it's an adventure. I'd love you to be a part of it. You can sign up here and receive the first instalment today.
Jess is losing her sight and with it her identity. After a series of unsettling incidents she starts to question everything. How can she be who she always was, when she can no longer trust what's right in front of her?
I've never done anything like this before. I've no idea what's going to happen but that's part of the fun of being a reader and a writer. All I know is it's an adventure. I'd love you to be a part of it. You can sign up here and receive the first instalment today.
My Lifeline and Yours...
My imagination saved me. It was my light in the dark and now it's the guiding light to my future. Writing is a deeply personal activity but if you're like me it's not a choice, it's a part of who you are. Don't ever let someone tell you you can't be a writer. Who are they to judge or decide your fate? It's your life and your choice. Be brave and don't let anything get in your way - even if that's being too weak to pick up a pencil.
Claire Wade is the winner of the Good Housekeeping Novel Competition and author of The Choice. She was bed bound for six years with severe ME, trapped in a body that wouldn't do what she wanted. She now writes about people who want to break free from the constraints of their lives, a subject she's deeply familiar with.
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Claire Wade
I'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI).
The Choice is available from:
DETAILS:
Title: The Choice
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748
Title: The Choice
Publisher: Orion
ISBN: 1409187748
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