Beginnings

Sometimes starting a story can be the hardest part. Seeing as I signed up to WordPress two months ago, and this is my first post, I suppose I can say that (for me at least) starting a blog is even harder. Just like with my creative writing, though, I have a feeling that once these first few words are down the creative flow won’t stop.

My name is Ashley, and although I may never have met you I’m really glad that you’ve taken the time to reach into this small pocket of boundless web space. I could start my maiden post by telling you everything about myself but I’ve never been one for quick reveals, in life or in fiction. The most important thing to say is that this blog was born because I have a love of words and a love for creating, and I hope that over time readers will be drawn to it because they do too.

I have loved reading for as long as I can recall. I fondly retain my first library card and remember being taken by my mum every three weeks as a child to grab a new stack of books – often getting upset at being restricted to the the six book maximum. Naturally I wrote a lot of stories as a child and young adult, something that I have kept up into adulthood.

I think that over time, especially once you find yourself in full-time work, if you don’t nurture your creative impulses and the things you enjoyed in your youth they’re likely to slip away. In the years that have passed since I left formal education I’ve made a real effort to maintain my creative endeavours but it has still been mostly hobby rather than vocation. Just over two years ago I decided that I wasn’t content with having stories I wanted to tell relegated to scrawl in a notepad or concepts in my head. I decided I was going to write a novel and do my best to make those ideas see the light of day. I also decided that, success or not, I wouldn’t stop there.

Everyone has some form of outlet, a passion or a gift. I do believe that you should share that with the world and make your stamp, even in a small way, however you see fit. I’ve always said that if you do what you love doing then only positive things can come from that.

This year I’ve become a member of a creative writing group, which I hadn’t been in almost a decade. It’s given me focus, a challenge and the impetus to keep on honing my writing. The prompts or challenges that have come out of our sessions have drawn out a creativity and excitement that I hadn’t felt in some time. I’ve yet to see how far my writing will take me but for now I am enjoying being incredibly active and experimental with my writing again. This blog will be for sharing some of the short stories I’ve written this past year and charting the progress of that first novel! However long this journey will be, I’m certain that it won’t ever be dull.

Ashley