1: What Does This Guy Know About Writing?

To be honest, I know a whole lot of a little. As an elementary teacher, I’ve taught kids the basics for years. Stories have a beginning, middle, and end. Always start a sentence with a capital letter. Always end with an end mark. What is a sentence? Well, it’s a complete thought.

My thoughts towards functional fiction, not just the basics but things people might want to read, really began when I started writing end of the year stories for my students. Back then I just wrote—no structure, no direction. I wrote how I felt stories flowed. And I did a pretty solid job…for my kids.

I’ve written quite a collection of stories for my students. Half of them resemble loosely cobbled together short stories reminiscent of Louis Sachar’s Wayside School series. The other half were stories where my students were characters in an actual chapter book. Have you ever wondered how to shoehorn 25 students into a 10,000 word novel? Well, I’ve done it. Repeatedly.

Were these stories good? I suppose it depends on who I’m writing for. Since I was writing for my students, I’m sure they were for them. Still, I would never publish them for a wider audience. First, they were gifts. Somehow it feels wrong to submit these stories for others. Second, they were normally first drafts revised quickly. I was not one who spent months on revisions.

At some point I decided that I wanted to write for myself…for fun. That was when I began “Arie and the Secrets of the Past.” The origin of this story was probably in 2017 or so, but I can’t be for certain. It followed a 12 year old girl in a fantasy “fairy tale” world and her adventures against the evil ruler of her country, cleverly named after me. Rewrite, revision, rewrite, revision, and continue. Last year I sent my manuscript to an independent editor and then sent queries out to agents. No bites.

But I understand why.

Over the last year and a half I’ve sunk my claws into whatever writing materials I can grasp, learning how to become a more proficient and efficient writer. My current favorites: Savannah Gilbo’s podcast, K.M. Weiland’s work, and The S*** No One Told You About Writing podcast. Plus, my work with Olivia Valcare, editor and book coach, grew my knowledge about fiction writing and gave me the nurturing I craved to continue this growth.

But I have soooo much more to learn.

My goal: to learn, to have fun, and to someday call myself a published author.