My brain picked up original today and ran with it, sure, it was closer to a lumber, for which I am now making a pot of coffee (a little pot, 4-cupper, I don’t want to wake my brain up that much). Through many tangents, I thought about writing and original ideas and how some people “borrow” the work of others and how the internet has unfortunately made cheating and plagiarism so easy.
But because my brain is much happier not dwelling on cheating, it went back to writing. From some single digit age, I knew I wanted to be a writer, well, as well as the first female baseball player, a rock musician, a forest ranger, an oceanographer, and who knows what else. But a writer—always.
I had cheap notebooks filled with bad penmanship and cross-outs and an awful lot of stories and poems and ideas.
Then college.
On my very first assignment for composition class, my instructor scrawled: “If you want to major in English Literature, you had better learn how to write.” Pow, right to the chest. Unfortunately, according to her, via every subsequent assignment, my writing stayed mediocre.
That experience derailed me. I transferred to the modern language department and started studying Spanish and Italian. I continued to write because I had been writing from the time I could scratch letters on paper. Inevitably I finished my English degree, shared my creative writing with another instructor who was a good teacher, who understood that students should be given support as well as criticism and she encouraged me.
Later I discovered that my circuitous route was not very original. I have dialogued with many writers who share to varying degrees my experience. There was someone who impeded their progress, convinced them that they would fail. Many writers don’t listen. They are sure of their dreams. For some, like me, we put credence in the opinion of someone who possessed just a few more years of education than we did and let them become the voice in our heads that said: you don’t have the stuff to make it.
While I’ve had a few pieces published, I also let the constant flow of rejection letters land and stopped writing for a few years.
Now, my idea of “making it” is different. Sure, a best-selling novel would be fantastic. However, I share my writing openly, here. There will be people who hate it. There will always be people who hate it. But if I can make someone smile or think or laugh or have a better day—for me, that’s making it.
end 10/11/2016
S. Darlington
Looks like you made it then 🙂
🙂
You DEFINITELY made it! Because I thoroughly enjoy what you write, the fact your vulnerable enough to share it, and most of all that you KEEP on writing because you are just that good. Both my kids were incredibly talented musicians, and the same teacher derailed them both. After a year of her, they were done with music. Tragic but I couldn’t change their mind. Not ALL teachers SHOULD be teachers! Their interest is not in building up, and encouragement, but the opposite. I’m so happy you continued to write. It would be a tragic loss should you stop. Keep on keeping on my friend, because your talent and prose speak for themselves!
Thank you. Up until these past few months, sharing my writing here, especially the Clare Chronicles, I’d forgotten just how much fun I had doing it. If I’m able to share that, well, it is a good reward. No, not all teachers should be teachers. If they don’t love the subject and don’t like people, they should be elsewhere.
I LOVE the Clare Chronicles. I hope you publish them in their entirety because they are just that good and fun and I found myself eager to read more.
Thank you. 🙂 You are kindness!
You are one of the delightful people and writers Ive connected with at heart, on a different level. It’s very touching that has happened, because it wasn’t something I expected, not that I knew what to expect when I started blogging, but it is most certainly a delightful side benny to blogging. Thank you for being here, I would seriously miss you if you weren’t.
Thanks! Backatcha….as we very verbal writers like to say! 🙂
we are indeed, aren’t we? boon for us!
Was up at 5 am at the hospital, and am currently on morphine and toradol and etc. but soon as I have my feet under me again, I’ll set up the “blog” page or whatever, no one voted on it, so unsure about which to do, but a page where we can chat. Lots of interest, but no one voted so not sure which is most comfortable for all concerned.
Oh, goodness!
err….not sure I want to tell you this then, but I sent you an email….
ok, um to covertnovelist@gmail? or novelist123@hotmail? rofl ill go check lol