My best writing to date has been those stories that contain flavours of my own personal experiences. Those are the tales that resonate best with both my readers and myself. At least, so I’ve been told by my readers.

But how can that be? I write Science Fiction, Fantasy, Comedy and Adventure. Surely I have never been into space or had super powers.

The answer to that question, of course, is no, I haven’t been into space and as much as I would like to lay claim to superhuman abilities, the best I can do is know that I can add sales tax up in my head before cashiers can calculate it on their tills.

So how can my experiences be used to write the above genres?

Simple. Every genre involves characters that are experiencing things themselves. Those characters have thoughts and feelings (usually) of their own and ways of relating to their surroundings. My personal experiences help me to understand just how my characters might react in their situations.

Take for example my current podcast ‘GalaxyBillies’. In simplest terms it is a fish out of water story. The humans are ripped away from their homes and taken out in the big, bad universe where they must swim or sink.

Does that mean I’ve been kidnapped from my home and forced to survive too? Not at all. But my family did move a lot when I was young (four times in six years) and I had to adapt to every new town we lived in. None were even remotely the same so I was always struggling to find my place and make new friends. I used some of that to relate to my characters.

Then there is my story ‘Apprentice’ which appeared in the first issue of Flying Island Press’ e-magazine ‘Flagship’. It tells the story of an apprentice wizard who is faced with losing his place. Again, I’ve never been a wizard, but I have been in similar situations and needed to draw on my own understanding of them to put myself into the character’s head.

That is why experiences, and more to the point, new experiences are so important. We as writers must be prepared to leave our comfort zones to get out into the wide world and try new things. If not for ourselves, for our craft. Those experiences and how we weave them into our stories are important in how we connect with our readers.

The story, ‘Apprentice’ is again, a good example of using my personal experience to connect with a reader. A Facebook friend of mine is a High School teacher. After she read the story she sent me a note telling me how much the character reminded her of some of her students. She didn’t like the character at first but when she experienced his struggles through the story she saw real value to him. She is now having her students listen to the audio form of the story hoping they will get the same appreciation she did.

I can’t think of a better compliment than that.

It makes me want to get out there and try more new things. It has made me more aware of how to include myself in my stories to give them a better resonance with my readers. Hopefully I will be a better writer because of it.

It’s scary, leaving one’s comfort zone, but necessary. It gives us a more complete picture of the world and people around us. I heartily encourage you all to try it at least once every week (or day if you’re really adventurous).

Personal Update

I’ve been giving most of my attention to my holiday the past while, but my muse has been kicking me in the butt, telling me it’s time to get writing again. I heartily concur and have been thinking of ‘what next’ for ‘GalaxyBillies’ and future stories. I have a couple short stories I need to write soon, so it’s time to get back on the horse.

Tags: experiences, irreverent muse, Michell Plested, new things, putting yourself in stories, writing

As you may or may not know, on the 4th of July I had my first story published. It is a short story titled “Apprentice” and published by the new e-press/audio press Flying Island Press. It isn’t the first story I’ve sold. That will be coming out in the August 2010 issues of Sorcerous Signals (free e-magazine) and Mystic Signals (print – available on Amazon.com).

Both of these stories represent firsts for me. First sale and first to see publication. They also represent a LOT of work; I’ve been writing for several years to get to this point.

It feels really good to be able to share these accomplishments with you and I am enjoying the feeling.

It would be very easy to say to myself: “There, I’ve accomplished my goal. Time to move on.” Except, I’ve only accomplished the very first of my goals. Ultimately, I want to make my living as an author. This is just the first step.

So what other steps do I see happening? Let me tell you about some of the other firsts I see happening before I become a full-time writer:

• have a story in an anthology;
• sell my first book – YA;
• sell my first book – Adult;
• sell my first series;
• get an agent.

None of these firsts are in any particular order. I’ve made a decision that I won’t do an agent search until I have at least one book sold. It may be that the agent will come before I sell a series or after. Who knows when I’ll sell a story into an Anthology.

All of the above firsts have something in common. They all require that I keep writing. They also need me to keep networking and putting my name out there. In other words, I’ve got to keep my nose to the grindstone and I’m OK with that.

I start suffering withdrawal when I’m not writing every day. I guess that means I can no longer deny it, I am a writer. That’s a very good thing considering all the stories I still have to tell. I’ve got ideas for at least four different series, all in different genres. How’s that for a challenge?

Thank you to everyone who has supported me to this point and stick around, the best is yet to come.

Personal Update

As I mentioned above, my first short story has been published. I am very grateful to have made the cut for Flying Island Press’ first issue of Flagship. I have plans to write another story to submit for their second issue. Maybe lightning will strike twice.

I’m also tossing some ideas around for a Flash Fiction Anthology called ‘Rigor Amortis‘. It has a very fun concept: it is a Zombie Erotica/Romance anthology and it is accepting submissions until July 15th.

GalaxyBillies is kicking into high gear. I’ve really got to get writing on it because I will be gone for three weeks in August. I don’t want to leave my listeners in the lurch so I have set myself a very aggressive writing schedule. I also want to get it done because I have another big project looming. I can’t say anything more about it, but it will be a LOT of fun to write.

I owe several people book reviews/critiques/blurbs so I am increasing my reading time to accommodate. You will be seeing/hearing several in the coming weeks.

Last update: I’m still revising my YA novel. I’m now 1/4 finished the revisions. This is another project I’m not letting slide. It needs to be done and to the publisher by the end of the summer (self-imposed deadline).

All this and I am job hunting BIG time. Need to get back to it so I’m spending a couple hours every day searching, applying, responding, etc.

Tags: agent, anthology, challenge, firsts, flash fiction, flying island press, Michell Plested, Publishing, scfi, short story, sorcerous signals, writing, YA