Introducing W.R.E.a.T.

I have been toying with the idea of starting a blog for some time, and my business website seems to demand such a thing: if I were looking for a quality editor, I would want to know something about them, including the way they themselves write. In my opinion, the best editors are also writers, because the best writers are always trying to improve their own craft. How do you become a successful writer? You keep writing, reading, and editing. This goes on always and forever for writers (you know who still reads prolifically? Stephen King, for one, and he is one of the most successful modern American writers). Reading is a part of a writer's job, and I believe writing is also part of an editor's job.

So what is W.R.E.a.T.? These will be the themes of my blog, in rotation: writing, reading, editing, and thinking. Today I will focus on writing, my longest and most intense passion. I will introduce my connection to writing and a few of my projects. The next time I post about writing, I will share some of those works.

I started writing short stories when I was around 9 years old. They were quirky mystery stories, with female Sherlock Holmes characters acting like Han Solo, rescuing kidnapped ballerinas from nonsensical and purposeless villains. I have written short stories in a variety of genres since. Most of my short stories are what I call "purges." Something happened in my life or came to me on a walk, and I had to get it out somehow. I do not have a great liking for or attachment to most of those stories, but I have a few favorites, which I am likely to post here eventually.

I wrote my first two "novels" in middle school. One was handwritten in a journal with Star Wars characters on the cover. It was a science fiction novel about a female bounty hunter. I called it The Bounty Hunter Charade. No one has ever read it (as no one ever should), but yes, I still have that journal. The other was historical fiction about witches titled Jealousy.  One of my best friends, Anna, and her mother read it and claimed that it was decent. That was typed on an old desktop computer, and I am sure I have it somewhere as well.

My third larger work was an autobiography I wrote in high school (cringe!!!). It was actually decently written, all things considered, as it came directly from the heart. Works that come from the heart are almost always stronger than works that come from the mind. However, it was deeply personal, and if I were a sensible person, I would have it burned. Not long after we started dating my now husband found it. He laughed to the point of tears (he personally knew one of the people I wrote about - a crush - and found it incredibly amusing). It's a miracle I did not burn it then.

My next big writing project occurred in the few years between college graduation and graduate school. It was an emotional fictional work about three young women trying to sort out their place in the world. In reality, all three of those women were facets of myself. It was a novel length work that never reached completion. I called it Fire, Smoke, and Ash.

I pray that those first long works never see the light of day, but my favorite piece has been in the works since 2016, and you will see snippets of it here as I continue editing it and seek publication. That was a crazy year: I dropped out of my PhD program in anthropology, started working full time in historic preservation, and finally began writing the novel I had been thinking about for several years before. 

Torsetu: Arrival is the first in a trilogy. I am currently working on the third draft. When I say that I love it, I am not exaggerating. As a writer, I believe you know you are on to something good when you enjoy your own story, when you can't stop reading and rereading it, when it resides in both your heart and your mind. I have also heard that you should write the book you wish to read, and Torsetu: Arrival is definitely the book I have always wanted to read. I am so excited to share more about it!

I have also written nonfiction extensively in both academic and professional settings. Some of that writing will be shared here as well. I have also written several wedding speeches; the photograph above was taken as I gave a maid of honor speech at a best friend's wedding last year. My goal was to move her to tears if at all possible, and I think I succeeded (the groom actually said I almost got him as well, which would have been a real win-win).

I will feature bits of all of my writing here on my "writing" weeks. For now, stay tuned for next week's reading theme, where I discuss two prominent authors who are speaking in Richmond, VA on Monday: R.L. Stine and Nnedi Okorafor!!!