Short and Punchy
Some people probably think you go to school, or take courses, to learn how to write. While those are viable (developmental) options, I think you’re learning all the time. You learn through reading, and I used to read lots. I’d study the way the story was structured; how the punctuation functioned; the way the sentences told the story; the voice behind the story; how many characters there were, what each did, etc. TV and movies are also good educators, particularly in how structure works. And you pick up things from all sort of sources, or they influence the way you do things. When I was a kid, my writing suffered…
Writing ~ The Very Beginning
Lately, I’ve been thinking about my writing journey – well, more than usual. When you get to a point in your “career”, and you’ve struggled to make a meaningful impact, you think about the choices you’ve made, and what makes you the writer you are – or perhaps a better way of putting that is not the writer you’d hoped to be. So I thought I’d chronologise my writing life, and be totally honest about it. In my head right now, that means some of it won’t be pretty. Growing up, one of my older brothers got me into reading. It started with Dennis the Menace and Peanuts comics. Three-…