I decided to attend a writers conference held at Ocean Beach in Washington State this last weekend. {Note to self: If a conference is held at a church camp it probably will be attended heavily by religious people.} I thought I'll go find out what some real writers and editors think about my scribblings. As you can see by all the corrections and suggestions made by one gentlemen on a single page of one of my stories, he quickly stops, puts down his pen and says "I think you are more of a story teller then a writer". Laughing out loud to myself, I think whew! A story teller can wave his arms around in the air, make funny faces and shout when a story needs emphasis. No more worrying about if I got my adjectives in the right place, if the spelling is correct or if I've used the same word too many times. What a relief, a Story Teller I will be. Secrectly I enjoy telling tall tales while warming ourselves around a campfire at Beaver Hollow more then I like writing anyways.
The weekend was not a total loss by any means though, I did win the "Best Opening Line" contest while attending. The instructions for the twenty five attending scribes was to write the worst opening line you could think of... "The bright red light on the cardiac machine blares a flat line as your eyes meet the infant mothers and you both know a miracle did not occur here tonight". I remember that night clearly still. It was one of the worst things I ever had happen to me. Writers are a strange breed though. What amounts to one of the worst things to ever happen to me, they see it differently. They say the aforementioned sentence was the best opening line because it draws a new reader into the book where they would want to read more about the story...
After that terrible night long ago, I didn't want to know anymore about the story, I just wanted to go home and cry.
Comment made by an old teacher friend that follows your blog. "Almost every page ever submitted to an editor comes back looking his did, with tons of marks. Editors are like that. Sometimes, editors help with spelling and grammar, but sometimes it is just personal preference and style.
ReplyDeleteEncourage Bill to maintain his OWN style, his own "voice." When I read his stories, I can "hear" the familiar tone, the emphasis, the way he speaks in person. This is what makes his stories interesting. And she went on to say, to keep up the great work!" LOL Mom
story teller or writer don't stop because of one opinion. I love to read your stories and like the above an here your voice as I read it.Just keep doing what you do best.
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