K.R. Gangi
This is a very difficult question, but most fun to talk about. I've had a lot of ideas come to mind based off of experiences I had with other books. In some of my books, I found myself saying, "Damn, I really wish it would have been cool to see more of this," or "I wish this would have happened instead of this." I think we can all agree that we felt this way with some books, regardless of how much we liked, or disliked them.
Well, I found myself saying that often, and so I basically yelled at myself, "Well, then, do it yourself?"
I had this basic, generic idea in my head of a story, and I wrote my first chapter when I was a Jr. in college. No outline of the story, no plot, no nothing. I just wrote a chapter. A week must have passed when I thought, "Oh, I should try doing this instead." Then things got a bit out of control.
I wanted to write something that had everything I enjoyed while reading a book: strong character development, dialog, tragedy, loss, love, blood, death, and elements of magic.
It really was just a hobby, but I found myself longing for my library time in between classes to review or write. And let me tell you, that basic idea that I had before is NOWHERE near what I've published today. In fact, I think I kept one, maybe two elements of my original story involved with my first book, Bloodlines.
The chaos didn't stop there. I must have written over a hundred pages, then stopped and thought, "maybe I should add this character, then I can do this, this, and this." BOOM. Things just got more complicated. Not only did I involve TWO more characters, but my story just became a lot more complicated.
If I'm being completely honest, I felt, and still feel, like I'm traveling through a tower, and every time I open a new door, or discover another room, I get another element/idea that I want to include in my story.
The thing is, I never truly thought I'd be at this level in my writing. I understand that I'm not a big author, and I accept that I might never be, but if I traveled back in time and told Jr. Kyle about the story that I've written, there's no way in hell I would believe it.
It never crossed my mind to publish; writing is a hobby. I never thought the story would be as complicated as it's become; it was supposed to be generic and basic fantasy. I never would have believed the plot; I just wanted to write about a guy fighting monsters.
In fact, I never told anyone I was writing, not until a couple of years ago, and even then I only told about three people. It was strange to think, but I only wrote for myself, never expecting to have an audience.
Well, I found myself saying that often, and so I basically yelled at myself, "Well, then, do it yourself?"
I had this basic, generic idea in my head of a story, and I wrote my first chapter when I was a Jr. in college. No outline of the story, no plot, no nothing. I just wrote a chapter. A week must have passed when I thought, "Oh, I should try doing this instead." Then things got a bit out of control.
I wanted to write something that had everything I enjoyed while reading a book: strong character development, dialog, tragedy, loss, love, blood, death, and elements of magic.
It really was just a hobby, but I found myself longing for my library time in between classes to review or write. And let me tell you, that basic idea that I had before is NOWHERE near what I've published today. In fact, I think I kept one, maybe two elements of my original story involved with my first book, Bloodlines.
The chaos didn't stop there. I must have written over a hundred pages, then stopped and thought, "maybe I should add this character, then I can do this, this, and this." BOOM. Things just got more complicated. Not only did I involve TWO more characters, but my story just became a lot more complicated.
If I'm being completely honest, I felt, and still feel, like I'm traveling through a tower, and every time I open a new door, or discover another room, I get another element/idea that I want to include in my story.
The thing is, I never truly thought I'd be at this level in my writing. I understand that I'm not a big author, and I accept that I might never be, but if I traveled back in time and told Jr. Kyle about the story that I've written, there's no way in hell I would believe it.
It never crossed my mind to publish; writing is a hobby. I never thought the story would be as complicated as it's become; it was supposed to be generic and basic fantasy. I never would have believed the plot; I just wanted to write about a guy fighting monsters.
In fact, I never told anyone I was writing, not until a couple of years ago, and even then I only told about three people. It was strange to think, but I only wrote for myself, never expecting to have an audience.
More Answered Questions
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more