Hello, and welcome to Nadi Abdi talks Writing, Reading, and Politics. I’m Nadi Abdi, author of Power of the People: The Demon Cleaner book one.

If you ask me if I like Star Wars or v Star Trek, I’ll tell you it’s crazy to choose. I grew up on Next Gen and The Force. I’ve seen all of LOTR (dir cut, extended, actor com, all of that shit), and the Hobbit (really, it was over after Smaug died. Y’all can fight me.). I was raised on the fanicfullness of Grimm, Poe, and Berenstain. Why then was I so resistant to the idea of me being a sci fi/fantasy writer?

There was in fact, a long period of time where I thought fantasy and sci fi, fairy tales, stories that start with “Once upon a time,” were for children and children’s authors, and that I would never be taken seriously as a writer if I wrote that way. I realize none of this makes sense given my body of work and influences. 

And that’s exactly my point.

The work that I’ve produced since letting go of that self-imposed stigma has, to me, been some of my best work. My brain is more relaxed. I’m more relaxed. I’m able to produce at a rate far superior to what I was when I was waiting at the doors outside my realm. I am now who I could’ve been decades ago.

It’s frustrating to think about so I try not to think about it. But I would’ve been much further along as a writer in my skills and as a career had I just written what was most familiar to me, what I knew, what I’m most comfortable with instead of negging myself and thinking I had to write like Alice Walker.

I have notebooks full of work that starts with “Once upon a time.” The stories haven’t all been edited. I don’t know if they’ll stay with that beginning line, but regardless, they’re some of the best stories I’ve written. Starting with “Once upon a time” immediately opens my mind to the possibility of anything.

Waiting around for the right or perfect story idea,, that great piece of literary fiction, cost me untold amounts of time and growth. I was still writing here and there, did a couple NaNos, but nothing like I do now. The pace and creativity I have now, I can tell that block was holding me back in ways that I didn’t even know. 

Don’t be like me. Don’t waste time and your life, trying to write outside of what comes naturally. Writing is hard enough. Writing as a career is even harder. Make this one thing easy on yourself.

That’s it for today. Thanks for reading. Come back next week. We’ll discuss how defining your narrator shapes the flow of your story. I’m Nadi Abdi. See you later. 

Read more by Nadi Abdi

The Demon Cleaner: Blog, Substack

Black Women in Fantasy: Blog, Substack

Nadi Abdi on Writing, Reading, and Politics: Blog, Substack