Why does a rainy day bring on the urge to write? Sitting at my computer, the falling rain is a curtain shutting away the outside world. Cozy in my cocoon, the cacophony of life beyond my ken can not assaulted me. Instead, I'm free to browse the expansive world of thought and imagination.
Non-writers may not be aware that we scribblers don't confine our working time to those periods we plant ourselves before a computer or at a desk, pen and paper at hand. Just as much time is spend in exploring the world our characters live in and mentally observing their behavior and interactions with others. These fictional characters acquire substance and reality as they reveal their quirks to us, the better to relate the story they insist must be written.
The imagination is a marvelous gift. My first attempts at writing for public view were restricted to informational articles. I was convinced I didn't have the imagination to create fictional stories. With a dozen or more purely fictional novels to my credit, that fallacy has been proven wrong.
It took a creative writing course with an inspired teacher at Kilgore College to remove the wall I had erected to writing fiction. Since then, I've consumed many books written by others generous in their desire to share their knowledge in my quest to grow in my craft. Close to thirty years later, I am still learning.
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