By Brenda Weathers Hargroves
I conclude these sessions with insight into how my writing career progressed.
When did you discover your love for writing?
During my 20+ years as a proposal writer, I wouldn’t say I loved writing. But possessing this skill allowed me to earn a living and raise millions of dollars for worthy causes.
I always thought of myself as a technical writer, but recently remembered two creative articles I wrote while living in New Jersey in the late 90s. Garden State Woman and The Independent Press published them. I searched my computer files and couldn’t find either.
I always find it interesting to read something I wrote years ago. Has my style improved or changed? What’s the same about my writing? What’s different? Is my message more interesting now? And so on. Now I’ll have to go through papers to look for hard copies of those two articles. I guess that’s not a bad thing. It’ll also be an opportunity to get rid of clutter. Definitely a win-win in my book.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the question at hand. During the pandemic, I worked on a novel I started to write in the late 90s. Over the years, I’d picked it up, then put it down several times when other matters demanded my attention. Finishing the novel made me realize I loved creative writing. A completely different world from technical writing.
Now in addition to my blog, I also create short stories. I’m proud to say that, as a finalist in a contest, I won a three-month membership in a writing group, which turned out to be a most valuable experience. And a literary journal has published another one of my stories. Click here to read this story or here to check out the audio version. It was my first time recording, so no judgment please.
Oh, and the novel I said I finished? That was a stretch. I’ve learned that the first copy is only a draft. You’ve gotten the whole story down on paper (or should I say, computer). Now you have to read, revise, edit, edit and edit your masterpiece before you’re ready to send your baby out into the world. When forging the complex publishing world, you must decide whether to seek agent representation with the hope of traditional publication or opt for the self-publishing route. Not to mention learning trade expectations such as authors should have more than one manuscript in the works. Whew!
I invite you to follow My Writer’s Journey posts, which chronicle lessons I’m learning while traveling the road to becoming a respected author. You can find these articles on my blog, Life Is Literally A Business.
I trust these last three posts have given you an opportunity to get to know me better. And more important (I refuse to say ‘importantly.’ It’s just not right!), I hope you will subscribe to my blog for bi-weekly 5-minute entrepreneurship and personal finance management reads that suggest tips to help you live your best life.
In summary, I have to say creative writing has opened a whole new world for me. Now I live my best life waking each morning with thoughts about what I’m going to write that day.
Questions? Hit me up!
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