Écriture

There are certain things you pick up along the way, if you're paying attention. Not just about life, but about the very act of putting words down, of pulling stories from the air. What I want to share with you isn't some grand academic treatise, but simply how I found my way to this peculiar craft, and perhaps, how you might find yours. It begins, as most things do, in the long, often messy, expanse of a life lived.

My own journey started young, scribbling stories on whatever paper I could find, often inspired by the comic books that were my escape. There wasn't much money back then, just my mother and my brother, moving from place to place. But there was always the writing, a constant companion, a quiet hum in the background of a chaotic childhood. I learned early the thrill of creating something from nothing, of seeing my words in print, even if it was just in some amateur fanzine. These were the foundational years, the building blocks laid in the dusty corners of small-town life, where the seeds of stories took root in the fertile ground of imagination and observation.

As I grew, so did the urge to write, becoming less a hobby and more a compulsion. There were struggles, of course, the long grind of teaching English and writing in the evenings, the rejections piling up like fallen leaves. Then came Tabitha, my wife, who saw something in those early pages of Carrie that I almost tossed away. Her belief, her quiet strength, made all the difference, pulling that story from the trash and setting me on a path I could barely imagine. But even with success, life has its own dark corners, and for years, I wrestled with my own demons, with alcohol and drugs, until an intervention, a circle of loved ones, finally brought me back to myself, and to the clear light of sobriety.

And what is writing, truly, if not a form of telepathy? It's the closest we come to magic, this act of one mind reaching out to another across time and space, transmitting thoughts, images, and feelings directly. My job, as a writer, is to put an idea in your head, to make you see what I see, feel what I feel, with nothing but the humble black marks on a page. It's a sacred trust, this connection, and it demands respect for the tools of the trade.

So, let's talk about that toolbox. It's not fancy; it holds the basics: vocabulary, grammar, and style. Use the simplest, most direct word that works, and don't be afraid of plain language. The goal isn't to impress with ornate prose, but to communicate clearly and effectively. Active voice is your friend, and adverbs, especially in dialogue tags, are often an enemy, weakening the punch of a sentence. Read, read, read everything you can get your hands on, good and bad, because that's how you learn what to do and what to avoid.

When it comes to crafting a story, I distrust plot. Plot, to me, often feels artificial, forced. Instead, I begin with a situation, a "what-if" question that sparks the imagination. I put characters into a predicament and then watch what they do, letting the story unfold organically, driven by their choices and reactions. The first draft is a private affair; I write with the door closed, focusing solely on getting the story down, aiming for a steady output, perhaps two thousand words a day. This keeps the narrative fresh, the characters alive in my mind. Don't worry about perfection then; just get it written.

Once that first draft is complete, the door opens. That's when you step back, let the work rest, and then return with fresh eyes, ready to cut, to refine, to make it shine. This is where you bring in your ideal reader, perhaps a trusted friend or spouse, for their honest feedback. You look for the recurring elements, the themes that have emerged naturally, and you hone them, making the story sing. The goal isn't just to tell a story, but to enrich the lives of those who read it, and in doing so, to enrich your own.

Life, however, has a way of reminding you of its own stark realities. In 1999, I was struck by a van, an accident that left me broken, both physically and, for a time, spiritually. It was a long, painful recovery, and for a while, I wondered if I would ever write again, if the magic had gone. But the urge returned, slowly, painfully, and I found my way back to the desk, back to the words, back to the stories that had always been my anchor. This act of creation, this persistent effort, is not merely a support system for art; it is, in fact, the other way around. Writing, for me, is life.