Ryan Mark's Blog - Posts Tagged "ryan-mark"
Stumbling Block AKA Writer's Block
I will always remember the comments my English Literature teacher made when handing back a piece of my course work…
‘You’re never going to be a published author,’ the teacher said, smiling, red pen in hand, ‘but that doesn’t matter, as what you’ve written will suffice.’
Although I knew the teacher was probably right due to the work being of a poor standard, I wished it hadn’t been said as it knocked my confidence, and it seemed like becoming a writer in the future was definitely out of the question.
I loved to write as a teenager and let my imagination run wild, however becoming an author at that point in my life had never really registered on my list of future careers. But once those harsh comments had sunk in the likelihood of this ever potentially happening was very much out of the question for me.
Writers face many challenges on the path to putting pen to paper, or in most cases now, fingers to keys, and this was the first major stumbling block that came into my path. After enduring this happenstance the urge to write fictional stories, or anything from my imagination, was totally lost to me, which after looking back, I do partly blame on the experience with the teacher. It’s amazing what a single person’s words can do to one’s hopes and aspirations – and even though you should never let the negatives deter you, as you can’t please everyone, it does hurt! We’re only human after all.
As with most unpleasant encounters, the interaction with the teacher paled into insignificance, and even though it did hurt, I knew I shouldn’t let it stop me from doing something I loved.
When I started writing again, I realised that letting those teacher’s words dishearten me was foolish. It was one piece of my work and a single person’s opinion. The piece of work that I’d written wasn’t a true reflection of my writing, and was based on a question that didn’t come from my heart. Writing Academic pieces was never my strong point… If you too struggle with such pieces, it doesn’t mean that you cannot write a brilliant story! Everyone has a great story itching to be released…
I spent years experimenting with my writing, and seeing what I could potentially create. I’d written several other stories before Tremor came to life. It took two years to find that comfort zone and finally feel happy with what and why I was writing. I can guarantee that this happens to the majority of writers. And I know this might sound like a hard and time consuming process, but the overall experience is well worth the effort from what you get in return: a published book in your hands – it’s hard for me to described what this feels like.
Even if you feel like you can’t write, but you have the urge, give it a go and see where your imagination takes you. Like I’ve explained, becoming an author had never initially triggered on my list of future careers, and I would never have believed I could write something worth reading, yet I wrote. And Tremor is the outcome of this.
‘You’re never going to be a published author,’ the teacher said, smiling, red pen in hand, ‘but that doesn’t matter, as what you’ve written will suffice.’
Although I knew the teacher was probably right due to the work being of a poor standard, I wished it hadn’t been said as it knocked my confidence, and it seemed like becoming a writer in the future was definitely out of the question.
I loved to write as a teenager and let my imagination run wild, however becoming an author at that point in my life had never really registered on my list of future careers. But once those harsh comments had sunk in the likelihood of this ever potentially happening was very much out of the question for me.
Writers face many challenges on the path to putting pen to paper, or in most cases now, fingers to keys, and this was the first major stumbling block that came into my path. After enduring this happenstance the urge to write fictional stories, or anything from my imagination, was totally lost to me, which after looking back, I do partly blame on the experience with the teacher. It’s amazing what a single person’s words can do to one’s hopes and aspirations – and even though you should never let the negatives deter you, as you can’t please everyone, it does hurt! We’re only human after all.
As with most unpleasant encounters, the interaction with the teacher paled into insignificance, and even though it did hurt, I knew I shouldn’t let it stop me from doing something I loved.
When I started writing again, I realised that letting those teacher’s words dishearten me was foolish. It was one piece of my work and a single person’s opinion. The piece of work that I’d written wasn’t a true reflection of my writing, and was based on a question that didn’t come from my heart. Writing Academic pieces was never my strong point… If you too struggle with such pieces, it doesn’t mean that you cannot write a brilliant story! Everyone has a great story itching to be released…
I spent years experimenting with my writing, and seeing what I could potentially create. I’d written several other stories before Tremor came to life. It took two years to find that comfort zone and finally feel happy with what and why I was writing. I can guarantee that this happens to the majority of writers. And I know this might sound like a hard and time consuming process, but the overall experience is well worth the effort from what you get in return: a published book in your hands – it’s hard for me to described what this feels like.
Even if you feel like you can’t write, but you have the urge, give it a go and see where your imagination takes you. Like I’ve explained, becoming an author had never initially triggered on my list of future careers, and I would never have believed I could write something worth reading, yet I wrote. And Tremor is the outcome of this.
The Young Adult Genre and Unsure/Nervous Readers
The Young Adult genre is, in my opinion, one of the most accessible genres out there at present. This is down to a variety of factors, but one of the main reasons is that the majority of the storylines, which fall into this genre, contain plots that are easy to read and follow (except for a few that don’t, but I won’t go into detail about these books), and so provide a great starting point for a reader who is either nervous, or, unsure of which type of book to pick up, or even, in some cases, where to start.
I always think that the best books are those that you can read all the way through, without having to stop, go back and re-read parts to make sense of the section that you’re currently reading. This might not bother some readers, and it may not tarnish the overall pleasure they gain from the novel while reading it, however, to an unsure reader this could be off putting. And I believe, this is where the Young Adult genre comes in.
With my book, Tremor (which falls into the Young Adult Dystopian genre), I made sure that the story I created was easy to read, with the aim of the reader being able to read from start to finish without having to stop and think: ‘I don’t understand that.’ A storyline needs to flow from the book’s pages and into the reader’s imagination, allowing them to carve an image out of the words, and I believe that this happens with great ease when reading books in the Young Adult Genre.
The target audience of the Young Adult genre may be young adults, but this doesn’t mean that the genre isn’t for older readers. That’s what makes this genre great. Such a wide variety of people can gain so much from reading books that fall into this category, whether they are unsure readers, or have great confidence in their reading ability.
I always think that the best books are those that you can read all the way through, without having to stop, go back and re-read parts to make sense of the section that you’re currently reading. This might not bother some readers, and it may not tarnish the overall pleasure they gain from the novel while reading it, however, to an unsure reader this could be off putting. And I believe, this is where the Young Adult genre comes in.
With my book, Tremor (which falls into the Young Adult Dystopian genre), I made sure that the story I created was easy to read, with the aim of the reader being able to read from start to finish without having to stop and think: ‘I don’t understand that.’ A storyline needs to flow from the book’s pages and into the reader’s imagination, allowing them to carve an image out of the words, and I believe that this happens with great ease when reading books in the Young Adult Genre.
The target audience of the Young Adult genre may be young adults, but this doesn’t mean that the genre isn’t for older readers. That’s what makes this genre great. Such a wide variety of people can gain so much from reading books that fall into this category, whether they are unsure readers, or have great confidence in their reading ability.
