An introduction

Welcome!

My name is Tara Wright, and I am a writer. Well, a writer defined as someone who spends their free time writing. As of today, December 30th, 2024, I haven't published anything, so I cannot call myself a published writer, but I mean to change that. This blog is a step along that process.

I intend to use this space for daily writing practice. The process I have in mind is simple: each day (or, at least, most days), I will generate a character and a writing prompt using one of the many generators out there on the internet, and then I will write 500-1,000 words on that combination over breakfast. As you read, picture me typing with a mug of tea in front of my keyboard, a plate on the desk beside me, and on that plate, a bagel with cream cheese. Maybe a piece of fruit to go along with it.

Having trouble? Maybe this will help:

There, that's me at my desk. Ain't I gorgeous?

In any case, that's the plan— do a little freeform writing in the mornings, to build my skills up while I work on drafting larger projects in the evenings.

I've been a creative person my whole life, and writing was my first passion. My mom tells me that when I was very little, I would force her to sit at her computer and type out stories that I dictated to her. I don't remember this, but I believe it. I do remember getting an Alphasmart word processor sometime in the third or fourth grade, though. I have ADHD, and it was thought that having something to type on would help with my ability to pay attention in class.

Image from some online shopping website called "Jakemart"

I didn't use it for taking notes, though. I used it to write. I wrote all kinds of stories, all throughout elementary and middle school. I don't remember what I wrote in the early days, but I know that at some point I discovered Stephen King books, and I started writing horror. I still remember a haunted house story I did in middle school, and a scene where the characters were being chased by the capricious and vengeful poltergeist. This supernatural antagonist had unscrewed all the light bulbs in the house, and was flinging them at my protagonist's feet, mimicking every movie scene I had ever witnessed where bullets are spraying just behind a character's heels.

I eventually picked up the guitar, and left writing behind for a long time. I won't give a full history of my musical endeavors here, but you can listen to my work in recordings by the band Pikesvillain, on the album The Comfort Zone, Season 2 by independent artist K-Jill, and most recently with the band Kimber And The No-Bodies. The Kimber project has an album that we've been sitting on for a few years, but that we've finally started working on again. I hope to be able to make an announcement about that album in the coming months.

The creative energy that I had poured into writing went to the guitar, and later to other small projects. I've hosted multiple podcasts that went nowhere and faded away, I've started and abandoned multiple Youtube channels, and I even designed a board game or two. Naturally, as it is with most folks with ADHD, all of these projects came on me like a rushing tide, and just as quickly, retreated back into the ocean of untapped creative potential, leaving me with half-finished ideas and a shiny new hyperfixation on something completely different from whatever wave of inspiration had crashed over me such a short time before.

The guitar was the only thing I stuck with long enough to get good. I love playing music, and I love being able to pick up my instrument and just express. I will always be a guitar player. But writing was my first creative passion, and I was good at that, too. For a kid.

In mid-November 2024, another wave of inspiration crashed over me. One moment, I was just watching an old Star Trek movie, and the next, I had a story. I had a scene in my head that implied an entire world and setting and plot, and I wanted to tell that tale. I spent a few days developing it, riding the creative wave for as long as it would stay ashore. But when the wave retreated, it dragged me out to sea along with it. I sat down to write, and a month later, I had written an 83,000-word Star Trek novel called Contact Day.

It's been a month and a half since that creative wave crashed onto my shore. Long enough that I should have moved on to something new twice over by now. But I haven't. I wrote a (first draft of a) novel, and it was FUN. I don't want to stop writing. I'm working now on building the setting and characters for my second novel, a near-future tale where a form of resurrection technology allows players to participate in bloodsports, dying over and over until they either achieve victory, or run out of attempts.

So, that's where we're at right now. I love writing, and I want to do it more. I want to do it better. I want the skills to tell my stories well, and I won't get those without practice. So, this blog is my daily swimming lesson. Each morning, I'll swim a few laps in the shallows, so that one day I'll be able to conquer the surf.

Read along, if you want. Offer feedback— I promise to read it, at least. Write your own takes on the prompts I come up with. Join me here in the surf. The water is warm, and I promise not to splash you in the face.

Tara Wright

December 30, 2024