Sonja's Speculations

It’s been seven years since I’ve written anything here. It’s time to wake it up and begin again.

I graduated with my Master’s Degree in English six years ago today. It’s scary to think how much time has passed without sending anything out to the universe. However, I’ve learned that not doing anything is a choice that I no longer want to be responsible for. I’m not sure what this space will ultimately become. I’m hoping it will help me find my voice as a writer. I seem to have lost that. I have so many stories in my head, and staring at a blank document hasn’t helped me get words on the page. So, I’ll start here, with this space and these words. And even if no one else reads this, I will know that I did this. I wrote this. Perhaps it will become my online diary. Maybe it will be something bigger. The only way to find out is to do the thing.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.” Jedi Grand Master Yoda

I’m not going to tie myself down with timelines and promises to update this at specific times or days. It’s going to be a space for me to figure out how to say what I want to say through the characters who have taken up residence inside my mind. There are many of them, and they are varied in personality, aesthetics, and trauma. Trying to pull one thread from the chaos of the stories is crazy-making. Everybody wants their story to be heard and understood. And I, of course, want to tell them all.

Choosing which story to begin with is daunting. What if I pick the wrong one? Do you see that question? That’s imposter syndrome sticking its nose into my head. Who, other than myself, would know which one is the correct one to start with? The reader? No. Is anyone going to tell George Lucas that he should have done The Phantom Menace in 1977 and not A New Hope? He started the story with a beginning. Not the beginning, but a beginning. I suppose that’s what I will do as well.

I’ll tell you a secret. I’ve already chosen which story to write first. Yay! First mountain summit reached. I should probably explain a little about the stories and characters in them. I write fantasy. We’re talking elves, dwarves, dragons, humans, other creatures you’ve read about, some that I made up, and magic. It’s difficult to talk about the world I write about without jumping into the actual plots. However, that would defeat the purpose of writing the stories. I will only say that my stories are about Humanity’s arrogance and disrespect for the world around them and the other creatures who inhabit it with them. Perhaps one day they will learn to cooperate and coexist.

Are you ready to jump with me? Here goes …

• Three!
• Two!
• One!