“Get Your Imaginary Friends to Fix You Some Damn Dinner!” My Mom Shouted.
Writing fiction is not always easy!
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I WILL PROBABLY never forget it. I was in the seventh grade, just starting to sprout my journalistic wings.
I read all the assigned readings. I wrote the book reports. I even started trying my hand at writing. I asked Mom to start calling me Tennessee Martin.
One evening when I asked her where at our dinner table Joseph Heller was supposed to sit, I think she broke down in her own stoic way. Quietly, with her napkin over her face.
As I recall that happened the week before I returned home from school only to find an empty house.
So this is what I learned. There are hundreds of writing teachers, writing coaches, and English teachers who will tell you to do three things with your new stories. 1) proofread and edit 2)read it aloud and 3)share it with friends or family.
I am here right now, to tell you that while that may be a good plan for non-fiction endeavors, it may not serve you well in other circumstances.
1)I would suggest using Grammarly, and proofread/edit the stew out of it.
2) Read it into a recorder and listen to it yourself. Listen to the flow. Search for awkward sounding phrases. Don’t force your early works on real people. Some will just be polite. others will be brutal. All will possibly be jealous. So practice a lot. You will improve. but don’t waste your edgy early works on people who aren’t worthy.
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I am Don Martin. I write books and stories. Check out my new microbook about microbooks. Join my reader family for my writing news and rumors.
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