When I\u2019m lying in bed at night, trying to fall asleep, I write scenes in my head. I can see them as they\u2019d be written out \u2013 title in bold, paragraph structure, dialogue enclosed in quotes. I understand that this is not normal.<\/p>\n
My father is a poet, and my first attempts at writing were in that genre. I can vividly remember a poem I wrote early on about the Black Hills. Not completely understanding the timeline of my dad\u2019s history lesson, I thought the Hills were currently swarming with illegal gold prospectors. Outraged, I penned the following:<\/p>\n
The Black Hills! The Black Hills!<\/p>\n
They\u2019re trying to take the Black Hills!<\/p>\n
With all that junk so shallow<\/p>\n
Just beneath the surface<\/p>\n
They\u2019re trying to take the Black Hills<\/p>\n
For less than they are worth.<\/p>\n
I think I was trying to rhyme \u201csurface\u201d and \u201cworth.\u201d It went on, but, perhaps mercifully, I have lost the second page. More importantly, that was my first attempt at expressing a strong emotion through the written word.<\/p>\n
During college I began the next phase of my writing life \u2013 learning my craft. At that point I was an unreformed academic and intellectual so my first thought was to get a Master\u2019s Degree in Creative Writing. Ahhh! The structure of class and study, produce and critique. But, given the amount of time and money involved in such a pursuit, I had to be realistic.<\/p>\n
I bought books on the aspects of writing that mystified me. First came books on editing. And the floodgates opened. The more I explored, the less I knew. Next came \u201cShow, don\u2019t tell\u201d and I figured out why my first novel was so bad. \u201cWhy show when you can tell?\u201d was my unconscious motto. \u201cI want the reader to get it! Here \u2013 here\u2019s what you\u2019re supposed to think.\u201d It seems that this writing style produces a bad novel.<\/p>\n
I read every book I could get my hands on \u2013 editing, show-don\u2019t-tell, characterization, plot, scene structure, sentence structure, syntax, anything and everything. I devoured books by other authors talking about their own writing process. I talked for hours to other writer friends.<\/p>\n
So now I am where I am. Where is that? I’m not sure that’s the right question. A better one: What are you doing now?<\/p>\n
Still reading. Still studying. And, most importantly, writing.<\/em> Every day.<\/p>\n\n\n