You Should be a Writer Dave!

I just got back this past week from the largest international trade show of its kind, in my industry, in the world. If I had a nickel for every person who said I should write for one of our industry's trade journals, I could buy a small fry at Mickey Dees.

To begin with, as a result of attending this trade show, I spent my first two days back home in bed. Due to chronic pain and fybromyalgia, I presently cannot work. Three hundred word posts you read here sometimes take days to write.

Let's pretend however, that I didn't have this condition. I still would rather not write for official publication. My industry is filled with talent laden writers brimming with professionalism and steeped in journalism degrees. For the most part they tow the company line, with the company keeping their voice in back of the line. The folks whose voice you can hear in their writing, are usually not paid. These people write to support their own agendas like consulting or selling products.

I consider it a privilege and honor to exercise my right to the first amendment while writing on my two Web sites. But perhaps for a more selfish reason, it just feels good. Being censored and getting your words along with their meaning hacked up by an editor, does not feel very good. I wrote a monthly column for three years for a large publication. I had an excellent editor who allowed me to be me and write me. And while this did feel good, it still wasn't the me that writes here at Rothacker Reviews.

Closer to home, Rosemary tells me I should be a writer too. The seeds of a book related to my industry sprouted up in 2004. I have worked on it on and off since, and created my other site last year to serve as sort of a laboratory as I continue to work on it. I wrestle with whether or not I truly have the passion to move forward with it though. And health issues grinds progress into the dirt at the most inopportune times. Rosemary says that my knowledge and experience combined with the fact that no one else has written anything like it, are enough reasons. 

I am looking out the back of my house towards the lake. I see a small green and brown frog attached to the window. As I move closer, I notice that his mouth is moving. I pause while I attempt to decipher his words, like a novice taking Morse code. No, it cannot be. I rub my eyes and look again. And then I write his message down on my pad: You should be a writer Dave!

Comments

[Rosa Say]

You ARE a writer Dave. The only decision is on the expression you choose at any given time.

And a book? Well, it is magic woven into your writing :) Make it happen.

[Steve Sherlock]

Dave, I'll second Rosa. You ARE a writer. Some have it more than others and I think you are one that does! Go for it!

[dave]

Thanks Rosa & Steve! You know what I like about both of your comments? The sentence at the end of each that begins with a verb!

[Marisa Birns]

No matter how many people tell you to be a writer, the only person you will listen to and believe in is yourself.

And I do believe that deep down, YOU want to be a writer. That's all that matters. Forget the rest.

Except, listen to that frog!

[dave]

Thanks Marisa! In one of those, "the universe is talking Dave, you better listen moments earlier today," I was working on a mind map which I call a cluster. I am trying to flesh out ideas for a story based on a teenage girl character. The name I wrote and circled in the center of the page was Alice - like the one in Wonderland :-)

[Rosemary Rothacker]

As a romance author, I can tell you everything you need to know about GMC (goal, motivation, conflict), character arc, setting & description, POV (point of view), non-verbal communication, dialogue attributes, and all the overused common words.

I can tell you what agents are looking (and not looking) for in a query letter. I can even tell you what it feels like to get rejection letters, to win or place in a writing contest, and to bomb out big in a writing contest.

Yet I'm not only a romance writer, I'm the loving and supportive wife (wink, wink) of a man with a very creative mind.

When it comes to the world of non-fiction, that's a subject I don't know much about. But in the end, writing is writing and one thing I DO know: Dave not only has the writing skills it takes to succeed in the publishing world, he's got something else. A unique book idea that every publisher is looking for.

Now if I can only get him to work on his listening skills...