I took my first writing course in 1981 at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, KS. I had been reading a steady mix of Robert E. Howard, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Michael Moorcock. I just loved Conan, John Carter, and Elric. The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks had only come out in 1977 and the first trilogy of Thomas Covenant by Stephen R Donaldson was also available. The original trilogy of the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne McCaffrey was also available in the bookstores of Lawrence, KS. I gobbled up every fantasy novel I could find at the time, but the market was young in 1981. Some of the great works that would come out in the ensuing years hadn’t been written yet.
$2.50 in 1977
In all fairness to the Professor, my writing ability wasn’t exceptional. Some thirty-seven years later, I still have a lot to work on. Just recently I sent a short story I had worked on to a copy/line editor I know. When I got it back, I found a lot of comments and suggested changes. If she had done it on paper, it would have been called red ink. There was a lot of it. It was filled with unnecessary repetition of words, use of words that should be avoided in fiction, improper paragraph breaks, improper verb tense, improper order of adjectives, and not including character description soon enough. So it’s something I am working on to improve my craft.
Recently, I dropped my subscription to SiriusXM radio. Now I listen to podcasts in my car especially Writing Excuses hosted by Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells, and Howard Tayler. (It’s really good. If you are a writer, you should check it out.) This opened my eyes to other huge gaps in my knowledge. (Like what the hell is a MacGuffin?) Couple this with trying to learn about inciting incidents, plot points, beats, structure, and view point choices, and my first novel came to a screeching halt. Trying to plot that middle part of the book, which may result in changes to the beginning, and possibly the ending, left me with more questions than answers.
$1.50 in 1976
I’ve often told people that writing is hard. Even I have determined that stories can be told in different ways. Certain choices you make result in a different story. The more I’ve learned about writing, the more I realize I don’t know. I do believe that writing is challenging. What I also believe is that I am improving and learning how to work through those challenges. I have also decided to work on some shorter fiction until I get my plot figured out for Skye Song, my first real attempt at a novel. Working on short stories allows experimentation with the many aspects of fiction and allows for more immediate feedback from other others, beta readers, and via submissions. It also is easier to be accountable to myself.
I did finish a short story in April and submitted it to an anthology. It was my first submission to a publication and I believe it is one of my better works to date. I don’t know how long it will take to hear back, but I’m excited about the possibilities. If you’d like to follow my progress, sign up for my Reader’s Group with the form on this page and follow me on Facebook and Instagram.