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Author Craft / Re: Author In Progress
« on: October 28, 2009, 06:14:40 PM »
Greetings,
I will claim the title of "author in Progress." Unlike many of the people in this thread I did't start out writing stories at the tender age of 5 or even 15. I am 35. I have been in the military for 16 years. I am married and have 3 children. I still attend college online at night. I have never been particularily artistic. A six month bout with guitar fever left me with a great appreciation of the art and sharp knowledge of my limitations. I read comic books and fantasy novels voraciously from my pre-teen years until this very day. I used to get the 'Annual itch' to write. I would scribble story ideas and short character bios until the affliction passed for that year.
There. That paragraph loaded with passive verbs gives you a starting point on Mightyutuvan. Now you know me. Well, a little at least. Then this year happened.
My grandfather died. It was slow and entirely too fast all at the same time. Heart failure. He was the kind of man, you wanted to be like but knew you never could. When I did something I knew was wrong (or stupid) I knew that if Granddaddy knew I would be ashamed. There is a lot to the story (everyone has one) but it is enough to say this. I loved him. I held his hand as he died. He seemed to talk to angels. He kind of bossed them around actually, telling them "come on' and "let's go!" over and over again until his final aggravated breath and then...he was still. My family's collective heart broke. I still get sudden bout of sadness at the grocery store or drinking Dr Pepper.
Something else changed that week. I looked at my life and realized that I spent a lot of time doing what I had to do or killing time until I had to do something else (drinking, video games, watching TV). I suddenly, keenly felt the need to write and complete a novel. It was something I wanted to do. For some reason I need to do it. It doesn't matter if is any good or not.
So here i am. I am inspired by Jim (I printed his blog and put it into a notebook) and Harry. I've plotted the whole book and written two chapters. I won't post anything about the story because (1) forum rules ask us not to and (2) I find my writing has a sort of energy. If I talk about it instead of writing it seems to steal that energy. I apologize for the huge intro but I have now exercised those nasty autobiographical gremlins.
P.S. Check out "Writing Excuses" Podcast for weekly tips and inspiration by published authors. I enjoy it.
I will claim the title of "author in Progress." Unlike many of the people in this thread I did't start out writing stories at the tender age of 5 or even 15. I am 35. I have been in the military for 16 years. I am married and have 3 children. I still attend college online at night. I have never been particularily artistic. A six month bout with guitar fever left me with a great appreciation of the art and sharp knowledge of my limitations. I read comic books and fantasy novels voraciously from my pre-teen years until this very day. I used to get the 'Annual itch' to write. I would scribble story ideas and short character bios until the affliction passed for that year.
There. That paragraph loaded with passive verbs gives you a starting point on Mightyutuvan. Now you know me. Well, a little at least. Then this year happened.
My grandfather died. It was slow and entirely too fast all at the same time. Heart failure. He was the kind of man, you wanted to be like but knew you never could. When I did something I knew was wrong (or stupid) I knew that if Granddaddy knew I would be ashamed. There is a lot to the story (everyone has one) but it is enough to say this. I loved him. I held his hand as he died. He seemed to talk to angels. He kind of bossed them around actually, telling them "come on' and "let's go!" over and over again until his final aggravated breath and then...he was still. My family's collective heart broke. I still get sudden bout of sadness at the grocery store or drinking Dr Pepper.
Something else changed that week. I looked at my life and realized that I spent a lot of time doing what I had to do or killing time until I had to do something else (drinking, video games, watching TV). I suddenly, keenly felt the need to write and complete a novel. It was something I wanted to do. For some reason I need to do it. It doesn't matter if is any good or not.
So here i am. I am inspired by Jim (I printed his blog and put it into a notebook) and Harry. I've plotted the whole book and written two chapters. I won't post anything about the story because (1) forum rules ask us not to and (2) I find my writing has a sort of energy. If I talk about it instead of writing it seems to steal that energy. I apologize for the huge intro but I have now exercised those nasty autobiographical gremlins.
P.S. Check out "Writing Excuses" Podcast for weekly tips and inspiration by published authors. I enjoy it.