My Writing Journey…
It’s done.
Molly’s Odyssey – Book One.
It only took… five years… to get it to an ending I was satisfied with, and polished enough that I feel it’s in a state to carry itself to the publishers.
To be fair, I had put it aside for a big chunk of those years, getting swallowed in everyday life, doubting myself and thinking about other things I could do. But then I remembered I wanted to be a writer and got busy.
It’s funny how characters come to shape. Molly is of Māori descent, living in fictional America with her ‘Mom’.
She is a young girl and feels like she doesn’t fit in. She has that pressing need to be like everyone else, only she isn’t, and so, like many of us when we were young, we feel embarrassed about who we are and where we come from.
It certainly was the case for me, even though I was New Zealand born, of Māori descent, living in the land of my culture.
I grew up in Marton, a small town and never did I recall feeling any different, or ashamed to be Māori growing up there. I had a lot of friends and was happy.
I was excited, but also gutted when we moved to Whanganui. The prospect of living in a new home and having a bedroom to myself sounded exciting, but it also meant I lost all my friends.
And it was now that things felt different. I learned the term ‘half-cast’ and the offending rhyme that went with it, and when I hit Intermediate and High School is when I really felt lesser than other girls.
And not to forget those ‘no offense’ jokes, when the butt of the joke was always Māori.
But now that I am a big kid, I couldn’t be prouder of my heritage.
And so, like I did, Molly is out to find her place in the world, she is out to find her people, and learn to like, if not love, who she is.
Writing the ‘Right’ Way
When I first started my course in Applied Writing, I found out that I was more of a rough-around-the-edges type of writer. Hence why I probably enjoy Roald Dahl, Barry Crump and Charles Bukowski.
And I was in classes with people that could write beautiful, poetic pieces of writing, you know, they can paint a picture of a rolling landscape on a brisk winter’s morning, etc.
I can tell you how a sore tummy feels.
The hardest part about this course was letting someone else read my stuff. It’s like they have a sneak peek into who I am, and they might think I am rubbish.
It was also difficult critiquing other people’s work. It has to be honest, and to be fair, I am an over-editor of my work and so my classmates got the same medicine. But this process was a good way to see some terrible writing, to realise I was doing some of the same things, and now I could correct it.
For the last year, we read 12 novels. Each classmate picked a book that everyone had to read, and for the rest we had to find books of different genres and authors, etc.
Now, when I was young, I loved to read! I smashed out the Sweet Valley High series, Goosebumps, Judy Bloom’s books, Paul’s Jenning’s stuff—all sorts.
Later, when the Game of Thrones series came out, I binge read the lot, often turning my light out at 5am, to squeeze in a few hours’ sleep before getting up with my kids at 7am.
I read Clan of the Cave Bears, and although I skimmed much of the lengthy details, I enjoyed this series as well.
But this task imposed on me, made me hate reading.
For much of it, I now notice ‘bad writing’, and ‘lazy writing’, and annoying repetitive habits of characters. Like with all the chewing of bottom lips, I’m surprised these heroines aren’t wound up in hospital.
But there was a silver lining. This showed me my niche—I stopped trying to write like the Jean Auel’s, and honed in on my style, for my audience, because the books I liked the most from this reading exercise was Danny, Champion of the World (yes, I choose that one for myself).
So, my character is also a bit-rough-around-the-edges—true to my style.
She shows the side of a teenage girl who can be a bit gross, a bit lazy and sulky, and because it is told from a first-person point of view, we also see her honesty and growth.
My right way of writing isn’t for everyone, but hopefully, it works for someone!