Three Writing Myths Stripped Nekked
#1: Writing isn’t (exactly) bullfighting
I’ve been writing for five decades and once or twice even got published. That and a bottle of aspirin will get you a relatively pain-free existence.
Old myths die hard and a few truths slapped me in the face, giving me a fat lip and a dose of reality, so I am passing this wisdom to the next generation.
We are carrying around a lot of BS about what it takes to write well.
The first myth-busting session requires a story.
It’s about an author named Wilson Rawls. You may not recognize the name immediately, because he was born over a century ago and didn’t achieve success until late in life, but you’ll recognize his major work. Rawls was the author of Where the Red Fern Grows.
Most people consider his semi-memoir a children’s story since it’s a coming-of-age tale, but it’s a book for all ages. When it was published in 1961, adults weren’t as keen on reading YA novels as they are today. Rawls, born in 1913, was nearing 50 when he published it.
Rawls broke a lot of stereotypes. He was not a natural writer, and he had no “in” to publishing. He turned out to be a gifted storyteller, but writing this future bestseller was a grueling, protracted process with dramatic twists…
