I've had a revelation recently.

I've always enjoyed writing, ever since I was very young, and in fact for many years I thought writing would one day be my career. And I do still write regularly, even though I have more or less moved away from the idea of ever being published; my writing these days is for myself (and a little bit on my blog!).

So here's the revelation: I do not actually have a writing style. All those years in school when my teachers were agog at the writing I was producing, they were really agog at someone else. Not that I was plagarising, of course; but I do tend to absorb the style of whoever I'm currently reading. When I look back and re-read things I've written in the past, I can see that. In primary school, it was Laura Wilder; in high school, I was more influenced by speakers and teachers I knew well. In my adult life, there have been three main influences: Elinor Brent-Dyer, Terry Prachett, and J.K. Rowling. In fact, the things that I re-read that are the most "mine" are the ones I like the least!

What to do now? Well, I am not going to give up writing, certainly, although this does serve to confirm that getting published is probably a no-go for me, at least for the immediate future. Perhaps if I continue to write, my own style will develop. Or perhaps I will lose interest one day and move on to other things. Who knows?