Beginnings As A Writer

I suppose I should preface this post with a warning: I'm not, nor have I ever been, a normal girl.  My first crush was on a girl called Diane, and with amazing symmetry, my latest belle amie is Diana.  For the most part, men have filled the intervening years of my relationships, but I can't escape the truth that a woman is just a better person to have a relationship with, 90% of the time.

What do my proclivities have to do with starting out to become an author?  Well, I think it's ample illustration that a writer, above all else in their personal lives, has to be true to himself/herself.  I think that I am, like many other authors, a very talented writer in search of a great idea to write about.  I have an old friend from high school, Mike, who is a lot like me: He vows that one of these years, come hell or high water, he's going to publish a novel.  He's done just about everything else, but the great story eludes him.

Or does it?  He's had a very interesting life with a large number of accomplishments, a sad litany of tragic losses, and he's known a lot of real characters.  I have to admit, he wasn't much of a writer back when we were kids, but he has developed an arsenal of writing tools that make him formidable - if he can just get the great story out of himself.

I mention Mike because he's a lot like me in some pertinent ways.  I too have had an interesting life and have known many characters - but can I do the expressive thing that writers and artists are known for, and get it all out?  Time will tell.  In typical fashion, I am testing the waters first, with poetry and a novella I am currently writing.

"Oh Lord, grant me the courage to be expressive," I might utter moonwards these days.  Writing has been an obsession of mine since youth, and if I could just write as spontaneously now as I did back then, I'm sure I would be satisfied with the results.

And so, I will leave you with this thought: When we get really unwound in the bedroom, we become different people.  I am currently enjoying the absolute best lovemaking I have experienced in my 38 years, and I feel like I'm ready to go have at it in the novel writing department as a result.  Will I win awards for my novel?  No, I'm not that talented.  Will I tell a great story that inspires many of my readers?

I think so.  Stay tuned.

Cheers -

R.O.