{"id":3700,"date":"2020-01-07T22:17:15","date_gmt":"2020-01-08T05:17:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=3700"},"modified":"2020-01-07T22:17:22","modified_gmt":"2020-01-08T05:17:22","slug":"a-writers-beginnings-iwsg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pjmaclayne.com\/?p=3700","title":{"rendered":"A writer’s Beginnings #IWSG"},"content":{"rendered":"

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January 8 question – What started you on your writing journey? Was it a particular book, movie, story, or series? Was it a teacher\/coach\/spouse\/friend\/parent? Did you just “know” suddenly you wanted to write?<\/div>\n
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My awesome co-hosts for the January 8 posting of the IWSG are\u00a0T. Powell Coltrin,<\/a>\u00a0Victoria Marie Lees,<\/a>\u00a0Stephen Tremp,<\/a>\u00a0Renee Scattergood,<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0J.H. Moncrieff!<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

In sixth grade, I won an award for an essay for a contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution. That was the beginning of my desire to be a writer. Through high school, I stuck to essays and short stories, then moved on to poetry in college. It was the time of singer-songwriters, and poetry filled the air. I was inspired by some of the greatest.<\/p>\n

I had some small success with my poetry; getting published in literary magazines and poetry collections. There was a lot to learn about markets, formats, and basic ‘manners.’ Like including a self addressed, stamp envelope if you wanted your submission returned. (Anyone remember those days?)\u00a0<\/p>\n

But at some point the poetry dried up and I needed to find another way to express myself. That was about the same time I stumbled across NaNoWriMo. You’ve probably heard of it, where people attempt to write a book in a month. Or at least 50,000 words of one. Well, I gave it a try. And I didn’t ‘win.” But I got hooked.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I’m currently working on my eighth book for publication. (I have several that will never be published in their current form.)\u00a0 And all those years spent as a poet gave me the courage to go indie and do it on my own. Sure, I had to learn a whole new set of rules, but I’m not one to back down from a challenge. (To find out more about my books, check out the other pages of my website.)<\/p>\n

Anyway, that was my journey. I’m willing to bet there are other similar stories in this hop. I’m about to find out!\u00a0