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Lovin’ It!

When I was a preschooler, I loved sitting on the couch next to my mother and listening to her read stories. (This was long before television and computers and Nintendo.) After hearing them multiple times, I read the stories —word for word—to her. She assured me later that I had memorized them, but not so. I had learned to read them. So began my love of books.

By mid-elementary school, I wrote poetry, which was often published in the weekly bulletin. In high school, I worked on newspapers and started a novel. And I read, read, read everything—Nancy Drew and Beverly Gray mysteries, as well as all kinds of fiction (mostly) from the school library. Visions of writing novels (my version of sugarplums) danced in my head.

Then life interfered under the guise of five children, six step-children, a disabled husband, and a myriad other distractions that put writing—and even reading—on long-term hold. The children grew up. A novel took shape in my head, then a second and a third, etc. The disabled husband remained, so my time was still not my own. Nonetheless, my first book finally went to press (when I was in my mid sixties), and it brought requests from others for help with their books. Writing turned to editing and then to publishing. All that was denied me in what should have been my most productive years blossomed forth from wherever it had lain dormant, and a new creative life began.

The writing evolved into editing, which quickly became a full-time job that took over almost all my writing hours. That eventually evolved into my present career: coaching. Teaching a writer to write well and watching that writer progress from a good storyteller to a fabulous novelist brings rewards far beyond any monetary payment. If someone had given me the tools that I can now give others, I’d like to think that I’d have written several books by now. Even if that weren’t the case, the knowledge would have made the process of what I did write a lot easier. Now it has come full circle—I can write again (aka, finish several novels that are in various stages of development).

And I’m lovin’ it.

Tell me now, what are you lovin’ about reading, writing, etc.?



Linda Lane loves to teach writers how to write well. Visit her website for more information about how she and her team can help you become the writer you want to be. http://www.denvereditor.com/


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Comments

  1. Only a fellow writer can understand the joy of writing!
    Once you start, it's very addictive. I'm glad you now have an opportunity to indulge!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  2. Me, too, Morgan. Getting old should have a few perks, and this is definitely a big one!

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  3. When my kids were small ... and older, I wrote mostly short non-fiction.

    Now, that I'm "retired" I'm writing what I want -- fantasy, and it doesn't even matter if it never gets published. I'm having fun.

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  4. Kay, you're a lady after my own heart. Enjoy!

    Incidently, I work with a lady in her mid sixties who is about to finish her second fantasy book, and her stories are wonderful. In some ways, these are the best years of our lives.

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  5. Linda:
    What I love about a life in the literary arts is exactly what you described: the flexibility to re-invent yourself as needed and when called. Ask any writer his/her career story and you will likely need to sit awhile as this person shares his/her convoluted path. I just love my convoluted path! It's how I grab the gusto!

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  6. So glad you are doing what you want and loving it, Linda. It is so important to make that happen while we still can. And I agree with Kay that it has to be fun. Otherwise there are a lot of other things we could be doing, especially those of us of a certain age. (smile)

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  7. I'm lucky to have an able-bodied husband, but I'm now going through what you described with my own young children, and just satisfied to have the editing of another novel to savour this year... in tiny morsels, when I "get time".

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  8. Kathryn, Maryann, and Elle, doing what we love to do at any time in our lives is a gift, and sometimes we speak through our works for those who do not have the privilege or the circumstances to do so themselves.

    Wasn't it Emily Dickinson whose poems - with rare exceptions - were unpublished until after her death? How many more Emily Dickinsons are out there, tucking away their words jotted down in brief moments of opportunity, words that may one day surface to touch the hearts of many readers?

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