What's the first book you remember?
I'm not talking about the tedious little readers we
had in grammar school. "See Spot Run, or was it "See Dick Run?"
In either case, Dick and Spot ran while Jane watched. You see, I go way
back. Now Spot, Dick, and Jane all run.
My mother read my first chapter book to me. It was Anne
of Green Gables. She also read Black Beauty, but that wasn't a good
idea. I didn't know about muckraking books in those days, and the treatment of
that horse put an ache in my heart that never left.
But, when I discovered Walter Farley's The Black
Stallion, I fell in love with that magnificent wild black horse, the
author, horses, and reading. Next, I read Heidi and Jack London's Call
of the Wild—those writers kicked ass.
You know what I mean, their boot didn't touch
anybody's backside; they touched our spirit. They made us love books. They gave
us adventure and set us on a never-ending reading trail.
Join the group. Write your book. It's worth the
effort, even if your work gets shot at.
Don't you sometimes read words that make your mouth
water?
An author who can seamlessly blend structure, setting,
character, genre, and dialogue kicks ass. We know it when we see it, but doing
it? That's another matter.
If you are at the place where you hear lofty words in
your head, you see the story, you have good taste, you recognize good writing
when you see it, but when you read your words and they sing off-key, chances
are, you're in the GAP.
That means you're here and want to be there.
The gap will close. Keep on writing.
It's good that you have discerning eyes and that you
can be objective.
You know that the writing life is magical, painful
sometimes, yet worth the doing.
I'm not here to teach you how-to-write. I'm going to
give you ten books to do that. I'm here to nudge. I could say kick your ass
into believin', persevering', and doin'. (I've been reading Where the Crawdads
Sing and have developed a southern drawl.) Talk about salivating over
words. That woman kicks ass.
I was motivated to write a little book titled, I'm Writing, Come Join me. It's available on Amazon, after reading an
online list of the five best books on writing, and screamed, "There are
more, and I can name them!" My list is ten. But the world needs one
more—mine. You can have all the best advice in the world, but it you don’t keep
your butt on the chair, it won’t work. I’ll tie you to the chair.
Kindle version, a bargain at $2,99. Read free on Kindle unlimited.
