Blog #2 Heather Cook

My Three Writing Habits.

1. Find an obscure location: When I write, I like to be seated in a spot that is specifically designated for writing, though I usually cannot write creatively when I’m seated in a conventional desk or table. Instead, I like to go outside and sit on the deck, on the ground leaned against the garage, or really just anywhere that I can breathe fresh air. Like I said before in my “I am a writer” blog, the outdoors inspires me, so anywhere outside that is unusual, yet pleasant, is where I choose to write. Sometimes I climb my tree Larry with a notebook and feel the rhythm of words travel onto the page. Other times, I'll just sit in the maple tree and think about my next work. My favorite time to sit and think/write is during summer thunderstorms. To the left you can see the view from Larry's branches. If I am trapped indoors, I try to find a secluded place. If there is a strange corner in the house, such as in an attic or basement, I’ll go there to write.

2. Avoid complete silence: Although I typically cannot write near people who are talking, I’ve found that I cannot write in complete silence. To remedy this, I’ve learned that movie soundtracks put me in the right mood to write. My favorite composers are John Williams, Danny Elfman, Carter Burwell, Bruno Coulais, Michael Giacchino, and Alexandre Desplat. Some of my favorite soundtracks are from the movies Coraline, Twilight, Meet the Robinsons, Harry Potter, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.

3. Don’t cage the writing: When I’m in the composition process, I try not to have too much in mind for the plot. I will have a general idea of what I want to write, such as the particular genre and the types of characters, but I will not have a firm plot planned out. Although it is difficult, I try to let the characters evolve and behave in unpredictable ways. If by the end of the story the main character has done something I didn’t think he/she was capable of, I know I’ve successfully accomplished my goal.

Blog #2 Melissa

My top three writing habits:

1. My first writing habit is to carry around a notebook. I purchase them from Michaels from the dollar bin because they fit in small, confined spaces. I also like the covers - Mary Engelbreit. I have them in the house, in the car, in my purse, and in my desk at school. When I can't get to the laptop, I jot down my ideas in these little notebooks. I use them for plot outlines, story beginnings, character descriptions, dialogue lines I hear I like, or anything I think I might use later in a story. They work great and are totally portable.

2. My second writing habit is to collect pictures of characters and settings. I am a very visual person and need to have illustrated representations of my characters and places. Sometimes I can find the exact look or place, while other times I have a series of pictures to help shape my images. On my laptop, I have created a folder of characters and ideas that contains pictures I have come across but haven't used - yet. I also put pictures with the manuscript to help me continue the story. Especially if I have been away from the story for a while, it helps to get the momentum back by "flipping" through the pictures. When I need inspiration, I can also look at these pictures and usually something will come to me.

3. My third writing habit is to simply write. Whenever I get an idea, I just write. I find that I have great beginnings, but sometimes lose the story somewhere in the middle and flounder around until I have lost it completely. I tend to want to re-read the beginning over and over to find the ending, only to find that ocassionally it is gone. Because of this, I try very hard not to re-read what I have written in the hopes that I won't lose the momentum of the story and spend all my time editing. I have many beginnings that I have either lost the story to or had the idea but not had the time to finish - yet. Hopefully, I will get to them soon.

Finally! My Name Is Brittany... Blog One

Hello everyone. My name is Brittany and I am a writer. Wow, that is weird for me to say. I have never thought of myself as a writer until recently. I came to Kennesaw State to learn how to write plays, but I soon found out that there is so much more to writing than just professors teaching me techniques and tricks. I have found that you must believe you are a writer before you can write.

I have to continually tell myself that, “yes I am a writer…I can write.” There has been many times over my course of study that I have asked myself, “Brittany, what are you doing, you don’t know how to use a comma and you can’t even spell…How are you going to be a writer?” Most of the time the temptation to give up comes when I am staring at the computer with a story to tell, but I can’t figure out where to begin. Or when I have begun the story, but I don’t know where to go in the middle. Or when I have done the beginning and the middle, but don’t know how to end it. I often feel like I am always in the process, and I never have a finished product.

I am currently working on a project that has to be finished, because it is my Capstone. I am writing a play. I chose a play, because theatre is all I have ever wanted to do. Whether it is acting, directing, or playwriting, I want to be involved in it. My play is set in the Civil Rights Movement Era. The plot centers on an interracial couple and their struggles hiding their love. I have the idea in my head and I know how I hope it goes. Now I just have to give it a beginning…and a middle…and an ending. Wait am I sure that I want to be a writer?

Blog # 2: Ray Atkins and His Writing Habits

My first important writing habit is to quit while I’m ahead. This is also not a bad tip for you gamblers out there. In the context of writing, however, what I mean is that I try to stop my day’s work at a good place in the story, a spot where the writing is coming easy and the prose is not strained. This tactic is actually mentioned by Hemingway in A Moveable Feast, and for me the habit has been a life-saver. When I first began to write long fiction, I would write each day as if it were my last. The problem with that was that I often had difficulty getting started the following day, because I had used up all of my material. I found that it was much easier to pick up the thread if I had stopped while there was still something to say.


My second important writing habit is to let the work mature once it has been completed. By this I mean that I resist the almost-overwhelming urge to send out my work to publishers, editors, and the like immediately after completion. The reason I do this is simply because I have found out the hard way over the years that the longer I let a “completed” piece age before one final proofread, the more I find wrong with the story. When I first finish a piece, I am still too close to the material to see the flaws, be they simple typos or more serious issues. But if I put the story away for a while, the issues literally leap from the page during the proofread. Incidentally, there is no clear endpoint to this phenomenon. I have two books in print, and I would change parts of each right now if I had the chance.

My final important writing habit is to show the work. I can’t overstate the importance of letting other people read and comment upon the work-in-progress. I’m going to get personal here for a moment and admit that I am afflicted by a serious condition which causes me to believe that every single word I write is a pearl. I am absolutely certain that each and every phrase is a life-changer for some deserving reader. My only defense against this malady is to get input from people I trust. I have a small cadre of readers who will tell me what I need to hear, even if it isn’t always what I want to hear.

If I had to pick which of these habits is the most important and perhaps the most universal, I think it would be number two. Writing is hard work, and once a piece is completed, my tendency is to want someone else to tell me how great it is, either verbally or, hopefully, with a check. Plus, by the time I finish a long piece, I am heartily sick of the thing and just want it gone. But writing, like wine, improves with age. The few times I have neglected my own advice, I have regretted it.

Blog #2 Melanie Sumner/Writing Community

My first readers were my teachers, and over the years they formed, unbeknownst to each other, my writing community. There was Coach Mac, a stocky middle school football coach with a long scar down his face who reamed erasers and told me I was a good writer, and Mr. Gioia, the highschool English teacher who let me write my weekly 500 word essay on anything I desired, and a pot-smoking history teacher who paid me the high compliment of accusing me of plagiarizing my paper. In college, I found my first thinker, a fascinating professor of Religious Studies who insisted we call Mr. Tyson rather than Dr. Tyson and the ineffable Max Steele, who remains my mentor in his spirit. I will always write for Max. My mother didn't fit into that community; as she hungrily scanned the manuscript for spelling errors she missed the story entirely, and although my father said the words that made my spine tingle, "This sounds like something you'd read in a book," he has probably never read one of my books. He just doesn't read books.

Although I was in several writing classes in college and in the MFA program at BU, I didn't really have a community of writers until I went to writers' colonies: Yaddo and The Fine Arts Work Center. After two years at FAWC, I came away with a handful of trusted friends whose opinion I honor. Equally important, they know first-hand the fragility of our work, the need to keep it going, and essential solitude required to hammer it out. As I began to publish, editors joined my community, most them as exciting and wonderful as big brightly wrapped packages under the Christmas tree. Now, in the MAPW program, I've added students to my community. Although they don't read my work in the workshops, I learn so much from reading theirs and discussing it with them.

When I told Mr. Tyson that I was going to be a writer, he cocked his big head, sending the tweed hat precariously to one side, and , "It's a lonely business. What are you going to do about that?"

Portrait of Gertrude Stein

This portrait of Gertrude Stein was painted by Picasso in Paris in 1906. She bequeathed it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York when she died in 1946. You can see that she was no shrinking violet. I had to take the photo without a flash, so it is a bit dark and blurred, but I think you "get the picture." --Kathleen

Blog #2 - Kathleen Lewis

My three most important writing habits:

1. Going forth - alone. When it's time to crank out a long writing project or when I'm writing late at night, there's no place like home. Then I need to sit at my computer and do what I have to do. But when I'm searching for inspiration, beginning a project, or needing to look over a draft of my work with a fresh spirit, I've got to get out of the house. I like coffee shops or libraries in parts of town in which I'm not likely to see anyone I know. There is a certain bench beside the Chattahoochee River that's got my name on it. I've been known to ride over to Athens or to the monastery in Conyers just to sit and write. It is important for me to be alone and out-of-doors part of every day if I'm going to write.

2. Always keeping three things in my car. I used to write random thoughts, ideas , and bits of stories down on yellow legal pads or scraps of paper in my pocketbook or in the backs of books. But then I wouldn't be able to put my hands on them when I wanted or needed them. Now I have one composition book that I take everywhere with me and write everything down in as I think of it. This book might include a title for my next class assignment, the beginnings of an essay, a list of people I want to have over for dinner, or even ideas for Christmas presents. I write everything that's on my mind down in this one book only. And I make sure that I put this composition book in my car every time I leave the house, along with a book I am reading. I also make sure there is at least one pen in my pocketbook. With these three items, I am always "good to go." There is no wasted time in my day. If I have to sit in my car waiting for my son to get out of class or am stuck in a doctor's office lobby, I can always read or write.

3. Reading my work out loud to myself. If you want to discern if your writing flows or makes sense, read it out loud, as if you were delivering a monologue. If it doesn't sound good, it's not.

Blog #2-Kristi DeMeester

My Three Most Important Writing Habits:

1. Good Music to Go the Distance- This seems silly, but I find that I become more deeply involved in my writing and less prone to distraction when I have good music playing softly in the background. My favorites for this kind of writing are Bon Iver, Damien Rice, William Fitzsimmons, and Bat for Lashes. After about twenty minutes, I hit what I like to call the "sweet spot." Where the music has faded into my subconscious and become somewhat of a soundtrack for what I'm writing. I also find that when I'm in certain moods and looking to write in certain moods, nothing will help me along that path better than music that fits that mood. If I'm looking for melancholy, I cannot listen to anything upbeat (Jack Johnson and the like.) What comes out doesn't ring true. If I can't have a good thunderstorm, music keeps me going.

2. Be Still and Listen (And Avoid the Backspace Key)- Sometimes this is incredibly challenging, but I have to learn how to make myself shut up and let the story tell itself. If I think I'm doing a poor job of it, I have to realize that this is what revision is for, but in that moment to be still and let the words out. I'm currently breaking my fingers of their love affair with the backspace key. Too often I delete because I don't like one word in a sentence, or I want to add one detail. Again, forcing myself to keep going has become the only option; otherwise, I'll forever be stuck.

3. Community of Support- I have found a group of people in this program that have become my touchstones for writing. Whenever I have a question, an idea, a moment of hesitation I turn to them for support. This opportunity is a precious treasure that never fails to amaze me. Workshopping, while daunting and scary at first, has become a learning experience that I look forward to. How else can I get my stories into the hands of ten to fifteen other writers and hear feedback? For those people who I've grown close to, I value their encouragement when I'm down. Without that, I may have thrown in the towel long ago!

My name is Kelli and I am a writer. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Brown, gave a class assignment to write an essay on whatever subject we chose. I went home and wrote a 13-page paper about the circus, although I had never been to a circus (and still haven't for that matter!). I remember thinking how much fun it was to write that essay and how quickly the words flowed from my No. 2 pencil. I didn't necessarily think of being a writer as a career at that point, but I knew it was something I would always love to do.

As much as I loved to write, I didn't explore it any further than just classroom assignments until high school. I loved writing for my HS paper and felt I'd found my calling as a journalist. However, after two years of college and a short stint at a local newspaper, I was bored and enlisted in the Army. I've been able to continue my writing while serving my country because my powerlifting coach and mentor ran the newspaper. He asked me to do a column, which he named "From the Trenches." At first I was a little apprehensive and figured no one would want to read about my military experiences but I was wrong. My first article was about eating MREs (meals-ready-to-eat) and other not so appetizing food at Basic Training. I received numerous compliments which boosted my confidence and helped me continue to write. I didn't have a set schedule for the column; just submitted a piece whenever an event happened or I just felt like writing. Some of my best pieces (in my opinion) were about the protests I witnessed in Korea and what it was like to be at Fort Hood on September 11th. After receiving letters and people in our small town telling my parents how much they liked to ready my articles, I realized I couldn't stop writing because I wasn't just writing for me anymore.

Currently I am working on a novel about the Iraq war. Its part love story but still has the gritty details of the war which I'm hoping makes it more marketable. I enjoy writing about the military and would love to be published as there are very few female war writers. Like most writers, I have the story in my head already. Just need to find time to put it on paper!

Blog No.1 Jessica Quinn

My name is Jessica and I’m a writer. Even as I type that sentence, something about it feels off. It should actually read: My name is Jessica and I do public relations for authors. Now that statement makes sense to me. However, after surviving three MAPW courses now, having written three chapters of my proposed book, and working on the revisions for the proposal for my literary agent, I guess now I can rightfully state the first sentence.

I am a writer, but my day job is actually doing public relations for faith-based authors, organizations and/or personalities. I make a living off of authors and the better they are, the more money I make promoting them. Now, to be joining their ranks in the publishing world still feels a bit foreign to me, but I am enjoying it. I love writing! I love being able to put words, thoughts, and emotions on a page, and work them and rework them and tweak them yet again. I love seeing the finished product—or more correctly stated—the latest draft.

I am working on a book titled Faith-Based Public Relations. However, just writing that I feel a need to say: “Shh…but don’t tell anyone the title or they could grab it before I’m published.” So, I’m entrusting you all—my cyber-space classmates—with my treasure. My agent has asked me to finish at least three chapters before he starts shopping the book this late summer/early fall. I am almost done with those chapters after the Writer’s Workshop in Puerto Rico. It is an exciting time. Each day, especially while in Puerto Rico focused completely on writing and not torn between work and school, I can further believe the statement and say it with gusto: “My name is Jessica A. Quinn and I’m a writer.” Should all go as planned, hopefully that statement will be revised to say…a soon to be published author.

(Photo: taken by my Puerto Rico roommate Sandy Simpson. Ironically the shirt I'm wearing says: "...these are their stories" (Law & Order) My husband is a Prosecutor and, now, I'm a writer--the shirt fits. :-))

Blog # 1: I am a Writer: Jess Yaun

My name is Jess, and I am a writer. I remember sitting at my grandmother’s kitchen table, my feet dangling a few feet from the floor, writing long strings of pretend cursive in blank ink. I couldn’t write the words yet, but I knew they were there. They come to me while I wash dishes, while I stand at my repair bench at work, or just before I fall asleep. Sometimes I can’t write as fast as they spill out.

There are black and white composition books stacked and stored throughout my house, but before I started the master’s program at Kennesaw, I rarely shared my work. Friends and family read pieces through the years, and responses went something like, “You have such a way with words.” But I wanted to know what they liked and didn’t like. They answered, “It’s really good.”

After the birth of my son Ayden in 2006, something changed. I not only grew courageous, I realized my life was no longer my own. How could I tell my son to chase his dreams when I hadn’t chased mine?

Every day I wrote during his morning nap. Sitting on the back porch, staring at the tall hardwoods and listening to the soft flutter of the leaves, I silenced my mind and let the words come. I started searching online for literary magazines and ordering back issues. Sometime after his first birthday I mailed my first short story. Within a few months I sent out poems, essays, and stories. They were all rejected.

Then I discovered the MAPW program where I have learned there is more to writing than I ever imagined. The words come slower now, and it is harder to still the voices, but I’ve never felt more dedicated to my craft. Whether or not I get published, I will always write. I’ll continue to strive for the perfect sentence, and the commanding paragraph, and the story that touches something deep inside. And if one day I hold my own book in my hands, it will be dedicated to my son – my inspiration.

Blog #1 Hi My Name is Lisa M. Russell and I am a Writer

My name is Lisa and I am a writer. I remember the first time I said that to anyone. I was buying something at Goodys. I just knew the checkout lady was going to start laughing and say, “Yeah right. What do you really do?”

Writing kind of chased me down and made me submit. Writing is a calling. Who would choose to stare at a blank screen until "drops of blood" poured out. For years, I hid behind all the excuses:

“I failed English 101 the first time.”

“ I have too many red marks on my paper to be a writer.”

The people closest to you are not always encouraging:

“It’s just a pipe dream. You will never make any money doing it.” (After I showed my first check from LifeWay Publishers for lessons I wrote, my husband stopped discouraging me)

“Mom, you are not really a writer, you do not have your name on a book cover.” (When I do write that book, it will be dedicated to my youngest son Samuel who said this to me.)

There were people along the way who unknowingly encourage. Carmen Acevedo was a senior English major at Shorter College when I was a freshman. She was an interesting character back then with her odd hats and perpetual optimism. I remember following her to the third floor of Cooper dorm asking her, “What is good writing?” She said something that has stayed with me for almost 30 years, “Good writing is when you can say something really intelligent – in a simple way.” (forgive the paraphrase – it has been almost 30 years) She encouraged me for years with that simple yet profound statement.She never knew that or remembered the exchange when I told her this year.

There was a Conference I went to for church that was teaching us how to teach creative lessons. My assignment was to re-write the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abindigo from the Book of Daniel. I decided to write it in USA TODAY style. When I read my assignment, people were really quiet. I felt I had made a fool of myself, I wasn’t a writer. I asked to stay after class; the conference leader told me if I wasn’t a writer, I should be. The reason the class was quiet is because they were stunned, “You had them on the edge of their seats.” I took it to heart and began writing short devotionals. I got my first writing assignment for LifeWay Publishers and a check for 300.00. I wrote for LifeWay for many years writing young adult and adult curriculum in Nashville, TN.

I mostly write for online content sources like ehow, Suite 101 and I am the Atlanta Writing Careers Examiner. I get to promote Georgia Writers and authors I am doing book marketing for on these sites. The pay is terrible, but the experience is great. I do book design, graphic design, web design and marking for authors and press in addition to my job at Georgia Writers (where I do much of the same).

I love creative non-fiction. There are ideas floating around my head and scraps of paper with ideas all over my desk. I have not given myself permission to write those things as I am so busy trying to make money doing freelance and my day job at GWA. I think getting into the MAPW program, this course and our professor is the push I need to pull out those paper scraps and pull it together. What choice do I have? I am a writer.

Assignment #1 Dina

My name is Dina, and I'm a writer. Some days, I even believe this; other days, I think I'm deluding myself. I've wanted to be a writer ever since I was a little girl, reading incessantly and writing in my journal that I was going to be a writer when I grew up and travel the world (In my mind, the two were synonymous.). I have the journal entries to prove this!

However, I'm 38 and still writing in my journal that I'm going to be a writer when I grow up. I have the journal entries to prove it! As several others wrote in previous blogs, I have numerous unfinished novels, a finished novella, some finished short stories, poems, and a novel-in-progress all saved on my hard drive, various disks, even a few floppy disks that no longer fit in any of my computers. The only readers I've had so far are classmates, friends, and my ever-supportive mother.

I got serious about my writing a few years ago when I realized how quickly time was passing without my realizing the dream of being a published novelist. I applied to KSU's graduate program and here I am, trying to improve my writing and reach my goal. I'm not going to simply write that I want to be a writer but actually become a writer.

I do technical writing for my job and recently took on some freelance technical writing as well. When I got my first freelance job writing a technical video, one of my friends said, "Oh my god, you're actually getting paid to write!" I had to laugh because he was right. I was getting paid to write; I do get paid to write. But I still don't really think of myself as a writer because I'm not getting paid to write what I want to write.

I don't think I'll think of myself as a "real" writer until I become a published novelist, getting paid to write what I want to write. Until then, I'll continue to write to pay the bills and, in my spare time, I'll write what I want - no matter how hard and hopeless it seems. One day perhaps I'll get paid to write what I want to write, maybe even paid enough to realize my other dream of travelling the world! Then I can proudly say, "My name is Dina, and I'm a writer." For now, I'll continue to mumble it self-consciously and pray that I have the determination and the talent to succeed.

My name is Toni and I am a wr...wr...writer. I can hardly say the word writer because of all the preconceived ideas that surround the vocation of writing. For example, if you are not on the New York Times Best seller list, you are worthless, or if you are not making any money, you really are not a writer. I am also a teacher, and I am haunted by the old saying, "Those who can't-- teach." It is almost as though, I need to go to a support group like Alcoholics Anonymous except this one would be for frightened writers. Because of these ideas regarding being a writer, until recently, I have, for the most part never openly acknowledged that I write.

However, in the summer of 2007 I participated in the Kennesaw Mountain Writing Project, which gave me the confidence to call myself a writer. Being in a community with other writers and teachers exposed me to the joy and the struggle of writing. Joy- because writers look at the world with a camera man’s eye. They see what others do not see. Struggle-because it takes time and work to articulate the visions that they are given. It takes discipline to daily sit down and write, regardless of how tired you are.

It is in the struggle that I am challenged. The duties and responsibilities of my life have bullied the writer in me into a corner. Procrastination has tied the writer in me to a chair in the corner, and fear has kept the writer in me stuck in the corner. I have decided that this summer I am going to come out of the corner, and dedicate daily time to my writing. Toward that end, I plan to begin by revising the short stories I wrote in Dr. Johnson’s class, Fiction Writing, and I am going to write.

Muppets Sing "Ain't Misbehavin'" by Duke Ellington

Writing Assignment #1-Kristi DeMeester

My name is Kristi, and I am a writer?

The question mark always seems to worm its way into that sentence when I say it. I still have a hard time classifying myself as such, even though I have felt words scratching at the insides of my bones since I was running around the backyard in only a long t-shirt and bare feet. (I cannot say that I don't still have the desire to do this sometimes.)

I question the statement because I feel like a liar when I say it. Have I published? No. Have I finished a novel? No. (I just have lots of beginnings.) So how can I possibly put myself in the same category as people like Margaret Atwood, Willa Cather, Fitzgerald, etc... and on into infinity ad nauseum? But, I can't get rid of the urge to put things down, to play with words like a child playing dress up, making something drab exotic and beautiful. And so, perhaps it would look better like this: My name is Kristi, and I am a writer!

Currently, I'm relishing in the reason I went into teaching: June, July, August. Summer is glorious! I teach 11th American Literature and AP English Language, but this fall I will return to tackle 9th grade Honors students along with my cherished American Literature students. Oh, the horror and the joy! As soon as I retrieve my camcorder from my desk at work (oops!), I will post a video of their re-enactments of The Great Gatsby.

Currently, I'm working on a short story entitled "All That Rises." When I finally finish, it will be the very first piece of fiction I send out for hopeful publication. I'm currently waiting to hear back on an article I recently submitted to a magazine regarding technological acquisition in children. I'm also thoroughly ignoring the novel I began this spring. It's tenatively titled The Prophetess. It started as a short story for Professor Groom's Fiction Writing class. Thirty pages later, I realized, my little story was not a short story, so I put it away to let it breathe and give me time to do so as well, and I think I'm almost ready to look at it again from a fresh perspective. I've written a multitude of short vignettes, but these were just for me and my journal. I don't know if they will ever see the light of day. Ray, I agree with you concerning the hardships concerning finding time. Too often I find it easy to justify away the time I could devote to writing. And then what do I do with that precious time? Have I mentioned I love really trashy reality television shows? Maybe I should write about that. A writer who doesn't write as much as she should because she is too busy watching another episode of Finding Love in a Dumpster. **Note**This show does not exist outside of my own mind. My apologies if I disappointed you.

On a personal note, I have been with my husband for ten years and married for two of those years. People are often shocked to hear that we have been together for so long since I'm 26. Oh, it's so cliche, but yes, we were high school sweethearts. Ten years ago I would have laughed at any one who told me I would marry my high school boyfriend while cackling, "I'm modern, and this isn't 1958. Get real!" Here I am, however, and I still kind of like the guy. We are pictured below on our wedding day.

I'm looking forward to this adventure!

Blog # 1: I am Ray Atkins, and I am a Writer

My name is Ray Atkins, and I am a writer. I have published two novels—The Front Porch Prophet and Sorrow Wood—and I am currently shopping for a publisher for my third book, entitled Camp Redemption. I have just begun writing my fourth novel, which will also serve as my capstone. The best part of it so far is the title—Sweetwater Blues—but once I get the voice established and a few character issues ironed out, I believe it will be a good story. I hope to finish it by the end of September.

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a writer, so I guess it is sort of ironic that I came to serious writing later in life rather than earlier. Living the writer’s life was my dream, but there was always a reason why I had to wait until next year to get started. I got married, my wife went to college, I went to college, we had some kids, we had to feed those kids, those kids grew up and had to go to college, and so on and so forth.

I suppose the lesson I learned during this period of time—also known as my life—is that there will always be a reason to not write, but if you want to be a writer, you should push past the distractions and sit down somewhere once every day and begin to write. One measly page per day equals one novel per year. If you wait for the ideal conditions to write, like I did for a lot of years, you may be waiting a long time. That’s the difference between being a writer and being someone who likes the idea of writing. A writer writes.

If I had followed my own advice earlier, I would be starting on book number forty instead of book number four. I would be rich and famous, and I would be writing this from the deck of my yacht. Sigh.

I began writing my first book when I was in my mid-forties, and after several false starts and re-writes, I finally saw it through to publication in 2008, when I was fifty-two. I received eighty-nine rejections before finding a publisher. People often ask me why I published my book with Medallion Press, an independent press headquartered in Chicago. I tell them the truth. I was all the way down to the M’s on my list of publishing houses before someone finally said yes. They went on to publish my second book the following year.

I am sharing this last anecdote because discouragement is the constant companion of a writer, but you can not give in to it. If I had become discouraged around rejection number fifty or so, I never would have experienced the amazing feeling of pride that came with seeing my work in print.

I am Ray Atkins, and I am a writer.