Writing between the lines
My whole life, I have found solace in stories. Fictional connections that felt like someone was sitting next to me, listening to my thoughts, placing a hand on mine, understanding. But there were always gaps.
I’m queer and I’m disabled. Reading as a child, a teenager, a young adult, I didn’t see people like me in fiction. When I started writing, the stories that flowed from my fingers explored the things I was too afraid to think about in real life. I was writing about queer characters long before I came out, but writing those characters helped me to see a place for me in the world. As did reading other people’s stories.
I want to write the stories that I needed when I was less sure of myself, when I felt like I didn’t fit in, when I couldn’t find myself, even in fiction. As I write more weird fiction, more body horror and gothic work, I find new lines to write between, new parts of society that I don’t fit into. Where once I would have feared that, now I embrace it: living in the gaps between the lines.
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In future, I plan for Between the Lines to become a writing community, where people can share their own stories and work. So sign up, and you’ll be the first to know about sharing opportunities!