How to Be an Author: IT STARTS AT A YOUNG AGE

OK, so I’m an old geezer. If being an author starts at a young age, then why haven’t I been published many times in my nearly seven decades of life. Simple, my parents taught me that when you choose a career where there’s a high level of rejection or failure–such as being an author, or an artist of any kind–a person needs a Plan B to fall back on during difficult times. Needless to say, like millions of others my Plan B turned into my Plan A and I had a long career as a teacher, assistant principal and central office administrator.

A less popular career path–one my parents never told me about–is keep failing until you make it. While this second strategy leads to a lot of waiting tables, custodial, fast food, delivery and ride-sharing jobs, motivation to reach one’s destiny, otherwise known as the hunger factor, remains high. In either case, the hungry or fall back approach, the writer discovers her calling early in life.

An often repeated adage claims that everyone has a book inside them. I believe it. And in most cases that’s where they should remain. However, gifted writers latch onto their talent with a ferocity the moment it sparks their tongues to wag in a profound direction. It often arrives when mother asks about the missing cookies, or why the lawn isn’t mowed or the dog been walked or fed.

Of course, its dynamics grow over time, often fueled by similar questions. Do you have any idea how that scratch got on the front fender of the passenger side? Or, your mother said I should check with you about the nearly empty bottle of Jack Daniels? Or, why do you have your friend’s cigarettes, and did he really tell you to keep them under your mattress?

I’m not sure if the quality of the story put forth on the fly, or the ability to edit the story enough to achieve the desired effect, determines how quickly future authors reach their anointed status.

Now, some of you might contend I’m only referring to writers of fiction, and my own history might support such a contention. But, let’s be clear, the driving motivation of any author comes down to how to weave words into a fabric his readers want to purchase, put on their shelves and share with others. The questions that spark the initial realization may be different. Whether the story searches for truth through facts or metaphors, and whether the bearer of the story follows Plan A through stacks of dishes or hours on city streets, or goes through a series of falling back before moving forward, the road to authorship starts at a young age.