Sunday, November 4, 2012

The First Time

I was an expert at writing stories until I started writing them.  It seems so easy: beginning, middle and ending.  Character and/or situation changes by the end. The beginning points to the end. Practice daily. Write what you know.  Just write. What could be easier with the rules all lined up before me? It should be like taking a first grade math test to get into Harvard.

But then, on the first try, I had to figure out if I wanted a first person or narrator telling the story. And how to begin? Jump into the action or set up the scene with grounding and descriptions.  What was the problem going to be? How would it be fixed? How do I keep a reader wanting to read more?

Wow, there was more to this than I thought. A lot more. In fact, this might actually take work and dedication and learning. Geesh Louise, no body told me there was work involved in writing children's books! Who knew?

And here is the truly crazy part. Seems that the more I write my own stories, analyze others, and get critiques, the more I discover that there is a deep ocean of stuff that I don't know about writing.

Okay, no this is even more crazy. After all of this knowledge that I've discovered I don't possess, I still love to write. Wow, guess I really am insane.

Heather Leigh

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