Everyone Wants To Be An Author

Hi, to all my loyal followers and friends.

I believe that comment in the title is mostly true. Deep down inside I think we all have a novel buried in our hearts. Oh, there may be some exceptions. So, do you want to learn how to get that novel out of your heart and onto paper, or digitized? That's what I'm planning to show you. I mean, if I can do it, almost anyone can. It just takes time and drive.


Several blog posts ago, I started explaining how I started writing. I'll recap that here if you missed it.


When I was in high school (John Swett High School in Crockett California), an English teacher saw in me some kind of raw writing talent, and my desire to write, and urged me to pursue it. In Junior College (Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill California), I had two communications professors who both believed in my ability and told me to keep at it.

It was years later that I convinced myself that I could write a novel during my lunch breaks. Just as a hobby at first. An hour a day wasn't much, but it was a start. I first wrote with a pen and pad of paper, but when word processors became available I transcribed all my hand written notes to a floppy disk. I kept working on my novel, changed it, re-worked it, edited it, revised it, renamed it, but kept working on it.

Then came the internet and internet-based critique sites. I tried several groups until I found one that I loved. I got together with a few other writers and formed "The Writers' Pen" critique group. There I made some good friends and learned what worked and what didn't. I also gave advice to other aspiring writers and in so doing learned a great deal about novel writing that way too.

I hate to admit it, but the entire process for finalizing "Bridgetown High" took 30 years, but you can see the results. While thinking that this novel was supposed to be geared for young adults, "Bridgetown High" has become something of a hit among middle age readers who grew up during the 1960s, the era in which this novel is set.

Next post, I'll tell you more about the publishing of "Bridgetown High." Hang in there. If you have that burning edge to write a novel, do it.

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Thanks. More later.