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.
