In my twenties and thirties, I was restless and
curious. Excitement and adventures
beckoned me; sky diving; horseback riding; sailing a 33 foot houseboat through
a storm; driving a large school bus on busy multi-lane highways and maneuvering
it through congested downtown streets of Toronto and Ottawa, attending college
in my thirties as a full-time student in order to change careers; etc. In 1986, in my thirty-third year, I saw a
printed advertisement which read “take this test and see if you have the
potential to become a writer”.
Bingo! That’s it! Now that sounded exciting and romantic! Dollar signs floated before my eyes as I
envisioned hordes of fans following me everywhere with cameras flashing.
I wrote the test. Guess
what? I had potential! What a surprise! The school was interested in teaching me or
maybe it was just my money that interested them (I thought at the time). I did learn quite a bit from that
correspondence course and later I met and heard of others who had taken the
same course. They also had gained
knowledge of writing and had gone on to publication. The school was legitimate. It actually did exist (and still does) and
helped many people become writers. That school was the Institute of Children’s
Literature, West Redding, Connecticut, U.S.A.
William Wagner was my teacher. I was never afraid to receive his critiques
because he was always fair. He circled both the weak and strong areas on my
assignments and provided comments about both.
Along with the marked homework, he’d include a letter in which he’d
explain why certain sentences or ideas were weak and gave suggestions how to
strengthen them. His critiques were not
harsh but encouraging which gave me the determination to complete the course. I carefully read his instructions and did my
best to improve. And improve I did. Thanks Mr. Wagner!
When I completed the course, I continued learning. I attended workshops, read books about
writing, and joined writing groups. I
took courses to learn how to write articles and devotionals. Then one day, I had a piece of work published
and later worked as a freelance writer for a magazine.
Who knew I had potential to become a writer and generate a
little money with that talent? And I’ve
been on the run. No, I haven’t been
running from hordes of fans chasing me with flashing cameras. I’ve been running after writers; to buy their
books, get their autographs, and take photographs of them standing beside
me. This has turned out to be a pathway
to adventure; better than skydiving.
We don’t know what we can do until we try. And it certainly helps to have someone coach
and encourage us.
You have lots of experiences tow rite about!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading you post, Shirley, and I was impressed with your very active lifestyle, as opposed to someone who sits at a computer and writes. You are hardly a sedentary person. Over the years, I have read your bios on InScribers in Fellowscript and have appreciated your what you have to say.
ReplyDeleteYour "running after writers" intrigues me, because it shows that you are a supporter of other authors as well. Blessings.