The Study...
Birthin' the First Novel
A famous line in a well known movie about the South goes something like, "I don't know nothin' 'bout birthin' no babies, Miss Scarlett." When I began writing, I felt much the same way about my new passion.
I knew nothing about writing, but I knew I had to write. I didn't even read a lot at the time, but something compelled me to sit down and tell a story. My freshman English teacher in college would have chuckled at the prospect of me wanting to write, but I knew I had to do it. I had to free that inner voice locked up inside of me. This wasn't a choice I made. I quite simply had to do it. If you're an author just starting out, or a seasoned professional with countless books and articles to your credit, you know about that voice locked away inside of you, desperate to get out, like a prisoner, who wedges his nose through the bars just to sniff a hint of the fresh air outside.
Knowing the voice is there is easy, no matter how deep inside of you it is buried. Knowing what it wants to say and how to say it--now that's another ring-tail monkey-- as my grandmother used to say. Experience, someone once told me, will provide your stories. You have to craft them, using your life's encounters as building blocks and stack them in a way that your characters come alive and your plot grows with breathless anticipation. I have tried to do this with my first novel, Justice Betrayed. I hope I've been successful. You, my readers, will be the judge.
After I finished writing Justice Betrayed, my inner voice fell quiet for a time. But I have since discovered that the inner voice is much like a child. Once its story is heard, it grows quiet for only a short while. Soon, there is a new tugging from within and a new voice arises, a new voice with a story that has to be told.
Yes, "tomorrow is another day."
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