My Writing Journey

I've always been a writer, always scribbled on bits of paper my random (and not so random) thoughts. But never going the next step to start publishing things. Life often got in the way, plus my professional career as a social and urban planner meant I wrote every day - reports, newsletters for community projects, marketing material, internal reports, emails by the zillion. You get the drill! So the thought of sitting down and writing fiction was often put on a very distant back burner.

My qualifications in Town Planning (how many times did I get asked "have you planned any towns recently?" lol) gave me entree to a world where you work in building communities, helping to shape a coherent urban and non-urban environment. When I started my career as a consultant planner, most people had no idea about the profession - even though the work of planners touched them every day. If they lived in Canberra, Australia, one of the few fully planned cities in the country, they kinda knew. Walter Burley Griffin, an American architect/planner, won the competition to plan our nation's capital in the early 20th century. Many have said it is a soulless city but I disagree - it has a uniquely Australian soul. I'll do a separate blog on that one - plus the story of Walter.

As we become more urbanised, and the population begins to appreciate how planning actually affects them and the places they live, the profession and activity of planning became mainstream. Now, pretty much everyone knows what planners are - and there are many different types of planners. Urban planners, social planners, statutory planners, development planners, urban designers, environmental planners, sustainability planner. The list goes on. Most people have heard to at least a few of these.

So, that's a long way round to explaining why I have left my writing behind a little. However, when I first started my career, I did a lot of planning in regional and rural areas. Assisting the councils in preparing new planning regulations for their areas. That meant a lot of travel to regional New South Wales, and I covered a lot of ground I tell you. Thousands and thousands of kilometres. I often traveled alone and had down time to myself, where I'd explore the area I was visiting. Sometimes, I'd have dinner in a local restaurant or diner, and just jot down stories as I sat there. Often, it might involve those in the restaurant - I'd pick a table and make up a story about the people dining there, jotting it down as I ate. It was a fun exercise which also allowed me to begin building characters - their physical characteristics, their little foibles, invented backgrounds, invented relationships. Sadly, many of those musings were lost but the lessons remained.

My career moved on and I traveled to more distant locations: all of Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Travel, as they say, broadens the mind and opens up new horizons. As my career wound down, I felt the embrace of the muse, and began writing fiction. Short stories were the most accessible, so I completed lots of, sadly, awful, pieces. But it allowed me to hone my craft. As I said, my career required me to prepare reports so I have always had to communicate ideas in a coherent way - so the shift to fiction was quite natural. It was just a matter of finding my voice.

Which brings me to the present day. I decided to write full time and begin publishing my work. Perhaps it's still raw, although many people seem to like my work. But it's not about becoming a famous writer - that will never happen lol !!! I just love the craft.

Now, the 'traditional' path to publishing through a mainstream publisher is both difficult and competitive (seems lots of people discovered writing during COVID!!). But the great leap forward has been the ability to self publish - the world of publishing has been turned on its head in a way, although I hope that traditional publishing continues to flourish. It does mean a lot of work besides the act of crafting a story - this includes all the marketing and promotion in a world where something like 1,000 books are published DAILY !!!! WOW.

Now some might take objection to the use of some platforms for a variety of reasons, but there are now so many avenues to publish. And, I must say, an even greater number of scammers out there. Ah, well. Such is life.

So, I find myself here and ready to take this next journey into something that I hope is beautiful. The main thing, though, is the writing. The act, the journey, the discipline, the wonder of things that appear on a page is the greatest joy. I hope you at least enjoy some of what I write.

DD Brady

October 2024