I have discovered a love for writing. I love creating a story and watching as it twists and turns in directions I didn't prepare for. I love crafting characters that develop a life of their own and proceed to argue with me about the things I try to make them do because they simply will not bow to another personality! It is an amazing adventure that happens in your mind.
Putting this experience onto paper and sharing it with your friends and family becomes a whole new adventure. You have to deal with questions (Why did he do this? What happened to her stupid bag? etc.) and you have to deal with others' opinions of your manuscript baby. The loudest of these in my case was a writing professor brother who felt I needed to know just how awful my writing itself was. (Really do brothers ever get better about picking on their sisters?) Luckily for me I had been forewarned of these reactions.
What I wasn't prepared for was an expectation to learn how to write better. It's one thing for someone to tell me my writing sucks, I was ready for that, but for them to show me how to get better?
My writing is still terrible. Every time I read through anything I've written I'm shown again all my flaws. I pick up one of my brother's tales and I'm instantly transported to another time full of adventure and mystery. I don't notice the words on the page, just the story unfolding before me. That is how I want to write. I want to tell a story without the reader being distracted by the writing.
I have been cursed with a professor brother who points out my flaws, but it's a blessing too. He is also patient with me and willing to help. Part of his New Years goals involved starting a website to help people like me. So if you want to learn how to write better you should check it out. At the end of the year we'll all see if my writing has improved. In the meantime, just hang in there with me...I'm working on it.
Unstressed Syllables
http://www.unstressedsyllables.com/
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