Madeehah joins the Luna Novella series with Orphan Planet, an SF story set off-world. You can order it here. After Madeehah's interview last month, here is how she approaches her own writing process - her 10 Things about writing!
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In my teens, I wrote a fanfiction series which became quite popular at the time. I’ve long since lost access to that account so I can never finish that story, but it’s still floating about on the internet somewhere. It also means I can take a peek at what I wrote all those years ago and how far I’ve come now.
I have no specific time that I write: early morning (if I can get up early enough), late afternoon, last thing at night. Even on my phone in bed. It happens whenever and wherever.
I can’t write in silence. I need something in the background, even if it’s just ambient noises. Silence distracts me!
Ironically, I hated English Literature at school and didn’t do very well in it...
I always found science fiction very daunting to write. It felt like you had to get the exact details right because the “science” had to be right, before you could build the story. My background is in biological and pharmaceutical sciences, so I have a very strong foundation in scientific accuracy. Perhaps this is what made me even more daunted. Once I let that go and allowed the story and characters to take centre stage, the “science” was merely set dressing. Interesting to write and perhaps absorbing to read, but it was not the main focus of the show.
I like to get my first drafts out the way as quickly as possible. Some writers are better at editing as they go along. It’s about finding your process, but I know writing a messy first draft and just having a thing to edit later is far more satisfying to my writer’s brain than slowly picking my way through a manuscript. But it also means my first drafts have a TON of notes I have to filter through later...
I don’t write every day. In fact, at the time of writing this post, I haven’t written in months (work and life tend to have a nasty habit of getting in the way). I’m okay with that, though, because I know I’ll get back into it. And when I do, it’ll be like greeting an old friend.
I think more books for adults should have illustrations. Adults like visuals alongside writing too!
I like to take good writing lessons wherever it can be found. I don’t read an awful lot of science fiction or fantasy and actually find myself gravitate towards historical fiction a lot. But there’s much to be found in reading different genres. Reading widely and deeply will only serve to enrich your writing.
Before I had published anything, I loved to go through author’s websites and read their About Me pages and Q&As to find out more about them (I still do this!). As I finish writing this post, I realise this is a little full circle moment. How lovely to have reached this stage in my writing career! :)
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You can order Orphan Planet here. Discover the full series!
About Madeehah:
Madeehah Reza is a writer and pharmacist from London, UK. She received an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University. Her work has been published in several print and online magazines and anthologies including Wyldblood Press, Luna Station Quarterly, and All Worlds Wayfarer. She was a finalist in the 2021 Future Worlds Prize for SFF writers of colour and nominated for Best of the Net in 2023. Orphan Planet is her first novella. You can find more of her work on her website madeehah.carrd.co
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