Some of my friends think that writing is the easiest thing on the face of the earth. Hey if you can think or say it, why cannot you just write it down, as someone recently said to me in a cafe over lunch. Unfortunately or fortunately (depends on your POV) writing, as any serious author will tell you, does not work like that.
Often, especially for me, it is hard work, especially involved when you must do research, even for a fiction novel or work.
Such a case in point is The Chronicles of the Children of Heaven, a fantasy work, WIP (work in progress and some first volume finished), which I have been putting together for quite a few years now.
Oh so many years ago I started a fantasy trilogy, (hey if it's a fantasy it has to be at least a trilogy!) called The Chronicles of the Children of Heaven. Actually this was up on the web for two years, on its own domain, and had quite a few followers.
The Chronicles of the Children of Heaven is by no means an easy endeavor, and though it is not sold YET, (mark that "yet", folks), it is something I would dearly love to see sold and in print. The first volume of "The Chronicles of the Children of Heaven" which is entitled "A Tale That Is Told", takes place on Earth, at the dawn of humanity (in legend of course) during the last two weeks of Adam and Eve life. That is the time period and background. There are three main settings in The Chronicles of the Children of Heaven, heaven, hell and earth with humans, angels, Satan and devils all interacting and attempting to gain control over one another. The tale itself is told by Kitviel, an angel, and is written down by him, as that is his purpose.
Writing such a work of fantasy demands a great deal more work and research than some may think at first. A lot of research into the Zohar, Apocrypha, Babylonian, Ancient Egyptian religions went into this work. Indeed, even Aromootherapy and Herbal Healing had to be studied and internalized.
Once you do have the "facts", and have decided what you are going to use for your book and what to disregard (though the things you disregard may come in useful later), you have to get that into the flow and style of your book. You use the research as a background in your head, to create as "believable" a world as possible.
That is just one small aspect of writing. Of course you have to know how to put a sentence together. You have to have an ear for conversations and description. You have to know when "to tell" and when to let the user just go with the flow and decide for themselves.
And then you actually have to sit down and write it all so that someone else may actually read it.
Of course it depends on the genre and subject matter. When I write my short stories, some of which can be read at thedeepening it is a matter of being in tune with myself, of digging deep down to those areas which I really have no desire, usually, for anyone to discover, and letting go without fear. Short stories, are to my mind, the most difficult things to write. They need to be caressed way beyond almost anything else that goes down on paper.
There is nothing easy about writing. It is hard, difficult, and often can waste you, emotionally and psychologically, depending on what you are writing about.
Writing is damn hard work.
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