From Pencil Scratches to Print: One Writer’s Journey
We had a saying among my Boy Scout comrades when we were out backpacking: the worst trail is the one you can see the end of. Knowing just how much of the hill is left can have a less than uplifting effect on morale. Better to have trees obscure your view, dips and rises to break up the march into a trek.
The same can be said for the twists and turns of this writer’s trek through the worlds of fiction, poetry, and playwriting. As I stand on the cusp of my greatest literary achievement to date, I feel it’s only right to take a moment to reflect on where I came from — and where I’m going. My hope is to provide a sign post, a marker for those climbing the hill behind. The peak is up there, my friends.
Exposition: The Very First Words
I promise, I won’t pontificate on myself forever. But for the sake of proving that talent isn’t born into a person, I chuckle at the idea that at the beginning of my life, I wouldn’t write. Not a word.
I would draw elaborate pictures and tell long stories about them, yet, my mom assures me, I wouldn’t put words to paper. My teachers expressed their concerns, but a switch flipped, apparently.
Rising Action: “Moldy the Cold-Nosed Reindeer” and Later Knockoffs
Apparently, because something seized me to draft my own parody of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and share it with my 4th Grade class. I even rewrote the lyrics of the like-titled song to complete the presentation. In sum, the protagonist’s defect isn’t his discolored nose, but his constant cold, which makes him sluggish and open to ridicule. However, this ailment comes to the rescue when Moldy’s slow speed helps the reindeer avoid colliding with Mount McKinley. Take that, Top Gun.
From there, I started to draft stories on scratch paper whenever I was bored in school. Then, after reading Bambi: a Life in the Woods, I felt a new energy take hold — and went back to ripping off better stories. Parodying in one sense, copyright infringement in another.
Yet something magical happened. Though the setting and characters were quite similar, the plot didn’t perfectly mirror the movie or the book. I had escaped the vice of reproducing what had come before, and I was now free to pour all my middle school angst into the protagonist. Naturally, I named my first-ever manuscript Outcast.
Climax: New Voices for the Theater
My writing journey took a turn when my drama teacher, John Wells, imparted some sage drafting advice: “Send your characters on a journey.” With that in mind, I sent two 19th century miners on a journey when they uncover a Spanish Conquistador in the stone and clash head-to-head with America’s original enemy: England. The cross of historical fiction and comedy landed my one-act play “The Great Debate” in SPARC’s New Voices for the Theater.
I learned a lot of things about playwriting during my two weeks in Richmond, but the knowledge that has stuck with me five years on is the moment that I first realized that there was no “best” play among our eight. Each was unique: some funny, some sad, all genuine and true to the playwright. For a teen that had always viewed writing as a race — from first draft to jockeying for attention in the publishing houses — it was a watershed moment. As we all offered feedback and encouragement for each other’s manuscripts, I learned that my fellow writers weren’t competitors. They were just that, fellow writers.
Falling Action: Publications and Strengthening My Voice
College accelerated the evolution of my writing style as my writing program trained me in new ways to plan, draft, and — most importantly — edit. These skills helped me place my first words in print. “The Artist’s Paradox” landed in the pages of Gardy Loo, my school’s literary journal. From there, I set my eyes on a wider audience than JMU and placed “The Traveler” in ArtAscent, an international art magazine.
Even as I continued to rack up wins, my eyes stayed on the true prize: the coveted novel. I finished out my first true manuscript freshman year and proceeded to rewrite and edit it over the next two. In that time, I also came up with a sequel (somehow), and continue to work on that book to this day.
On this latest writing journey, I started out with a simple question: “What’s the book I’ve always wanted to read?” I would like to think that I wrote it during my college years, and now the task falls to me to see it out into the world.
Resolution: A Base Camp and a New Peak
As I prepare for the next climb, I wanted to take this opportunity to reflect on the winding trail that led to these heights. Indeed, I already beat myself to it: my writing is now available in book-form as part of the anthology Virginia’s Best Emerging Poets. This milestone also marks my first solicited submission, another dream of most writers: the publishers come to you.
Though I structured this post like a plot line (let’s face it, the irony was too much to resist), the path to this point was anything but organized. I have pounds of failed books, untouched plot lines, and half-written short stories, in addition to megabytes of unpublished writing scattered across three hard drives. Choose what madness energizes you best, and stay the course.
In summary, there is no one right path. There may not even be a trail, to return to the hiking wisdom at the start. The second downside of seeing the end of the trail is that it is then no longer adventure — it becomes a task with a clear objective. Work, in short. Maybe that works for you. I couldn’t stand it. There is only one constant in all of the weeds: you. Whatever your goals may be, whatever the achievements, no one else can do it for you. Find what writing you love best and never let go. The rest will fall into place.
