Because you both go into telephone boxes and remove your clothing.
No, wait, that wasn’t it.
Imagine you’ve just been bitten by a radioactive spider. Yes, owch. But more importantly, look, you’ve gained super-strength, the ability to climb walls and (depending on which movie version you choose to be in) shoot webs out of your wrists.
Does that make you a superhero? No, it doesn’t. You have all the talent, the skills you need to fight crime in a novel and entertaining (not to mention, strictly speaking, illegal) way, but having the talent is not enough.
If you’re going to be a hero, you need to work out how to use those abilities. You need to know where crime is happening and what you can do to prevent it. When you’ve worked out which streets to hang around, when you’ve got your mask to protect your identity, when you’ve practiced tying up villains with shots of web, THEN you can really fight crime.
Being able to write, being keen on writing, having a love of story…All these are necessary writerly superpowers. But just because you can turn a pretty phrase, or get lots of likes with each status update on Faceboob, it doesn’t make you a successful writer.
You need to look at those talents and work out HOW TO USE THEM. There’s never going to be “the right time” for you to write your novel. No one is going to hand you six months and a word processor.
You need to seize your superpowers, bend them to your will and use them to defeat your nemesis.
Farewell citizen! My work here is done!
Up, up and awaaaaaaaaay!
Turns out flying is NOT one of my superpowers. Nor is falling twenty five feet without breaking bones. Owch. Next post, writing while in hospital….
Damian Trasler's Secret Blog - Do Not Read! 