Ivica Ďuricová's Blog
May 14, 2017
ONCE UPON A TIME...
FROM A DOG AND A FOREST FIRE TO THURSDAYS, RUSSIA AND FINALLY ALLOWING MYSELF TO BE AN AUTHOR – THAT COULD BE A SHORT RÉSUMÉ OF MY BECOMING-AN-AUTHOR STORY. LET'S MOVE ON TO THE LONGER ONE...
WORD AS MY WORLD
Do you remember the first big old computers that were so slow you could easily take a shower while waiting for them to start up? I was six years old when my father brought one home. Despite that lack of speed and little RAM, it was still a miracle. It enabled people to do many useful things. I, however, was only interested in two of them, painting and MS Word.
Especially the second one. Why? Because I could write anything I wanted. Before I entered this marvellous world of Word, I used to annoy my family telling the stories I had in my head, but from that point on I was able to write them down on that computer. It was paradise for me.
Of course they were lousy but I loved them. My first fairytale was about a little dog rescuing a forest from fire. Other animals, his friends, helped him and I still remember how my father didn't want to tell me how to insert a picture of a dog into the text, so I had to figure it out by myself.
It's a pity but I don't have that fairytale anymore.
Instead of that one, I have a lot of other short stories on my much more modern notebook, tons of depressing poems in a red paper notebook and two school exercise books full of essays from primary school. This is how it all started, as a great passion, a way of self expression really.
FROM WRITING “FOR THE DESK DRAWER” TO WRITING PROFESSIONALLY
Communication was it, written words, spoken words, words in different languages but always words. I began to study the German language and teaching at the Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and I was going to become a German teacher. I taught for a while but writing was still more important to me. Later, I met some people who would become important in my life and I discovered the profession of copywriter. I followed it as a career and also established my own company. Years of writing copies and articles for a business magazine passed by. It was fun, sometimes difficult, sometimes very rewarding. However, I felt like I was still missing something.
Until the day when my bosses at the Podnikajte.sk magazine told me that they planned to publish my business ideas series as a book. The series had been published in their magazine every Thursday and was two years old at the time. A classic printed book that would be available in bookstores. I was like... wow. Is this really happening? Yes, I was a writer, a copywriter in demand actually but could it really be possible that I would be a real author? It was something I had always dreamt of but never really allowed myself to believe it could one day become a reality. Not even after my first book had hit the shelves.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES
My first book titled 99 Inspiring Business Ideas was published when I was already writing another business book. It suddenly came to me naturally, without pushing too hard – one of my long-term clients wanted my help with his memoirs. That's how “Business in Russia” came about. Ladislav, an entrepreneur and business angel, wanted to write down his business story and I helped as co-author. Anyway, I still didn't feel like an author at that time. Maybe writer and memoirist, but not a professional author yet.
Two books had now been published and I also worked as a full time copywriter, when suddenly an idea for a novel came to mind. It was in January 2013 and it took almost a year before I finished the book. Since I started, I was unable to stop. Some of my friends happened to be my first readers and they liked it very much. I was even more surprised when other people, unrelated to me and not close friends, liked it too. Maybe this was the moment that forced me to follow my dreams. I have now finally allowed myself to call myself an author. Although I know I’m still at the very beginning, I am now publishing my first fiction novel in English. Wish me luck, please!
WORD AS MY WORLD
Do you remember the first big old computers that were so slow you could easily take a shower while waiting for them to start up? I was six years old when my father brought one home. Despite that lack of speed and little RAM, it was still a miracle. It enabled people to do many useful things. I, however, was only interested in two of them, painting and MS Word.
Especially the second one. Why? Because I could write anything I wanted. Before I entered this marvellous world of Word, I used to annoy my family telling the stories I had in my head, but from that point on I was able to write them down on that computer. It was paradise for me.
Of course they were lousy but I loved them. My first fairytale was about a little dog rescuing a forest from fire. Other animals, his friends, helped him and I still remember how my father didn't want to tell me how to insert a picture of a dog into the text, so I had to figure it out by myself.
It's a pity but I don't have that fairytale anymore.
Instead of that one, I have a lot of other short stories on my much more modern notebook, tons of depressing poems in a red paper notebook and two school exercise books full of essays from primary school. This is how it all started, as a great passion, a way of self expression really.
FROM WRITING “FOR THE DESK DRAWER” TO WRITING PROFESSIONALLY
Communication was it, written words, spoken words, words in different languages but always words. I began to study the German language and teaching at the Masaryk University in the Czech Republic and I was going to become a German teacher. I taught for a while but writing was still more important to me. Later, I met some people who would become important in my life and I discovered the profession of copywriter. I followed it as a career and also established my own company. Years of writing copies and articles for a business magazine passed by. It was fun, sometimes difficult, sometimes very rewarding. However, I felt like I was still missing something.
Until the day when my bosses at the Podnikajte.sk magazine told me that they planned to publish my business ideas series as a book. The series had been published in their magazine every Thursday and was two years old at the time. A classic printed book that would be available in bookstores. I was like... wow. Is this really happening? Yes, I was a writer, a copywriter in demand actually but could it really be possible that I would be a real author? It was something I had always dreamt of but never really allowed myself to believe it could one day become a reality. Not even after my first book had hit the shelves.
ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES
My first book titled 99 Inspiring Business Ideas was published when I was already writing another business book. It suddenly came to me naturally, without pushing too hard – one of my long-term clients wanted my help with his memoirs. That's how “Business in Russia” came about. Ladislav, an entrepreneur and business angel, wanted to write down his business story and I helped as co-author. Anyway, I still didn't feel like an author at that time. Maybe writer and memoirist, but not a professional author yet.
Two books had now been published and I also worked as a full time copywriter, when suddenly an idea for a novel came to mind. It was in January 2013 and it took almost a year before I finished the book. Since I started, I was unable to stop. Some of my friends happened to be my first readers and they liked it very much. I was even more surprised when other people, unrelated to me and not close friends, liked it too. Maybe this was the moment that forced me to follow my dreams. I have now finally allowed myself to call myself an author. Although I know I’m still at the very beginning, I am now publishing my first fiction novel in English. Wish me luck, please!
