I'm pleased to share a column written by a friend and colleague, Janet Jenkins We were together at a book signing recently, and afterwards, in her regular personal column, she shared her thoughts with would-be writers about how to get started. Janet's the author of a collection of her newspaper columns and feature stories, called JANET!

Want to Write? Here's How....

by Janet Jenkins

author of JANET!

copyright 2009 by Janet Jenkins; first published in the Albia Union Republican; presented here with permission of the author

BOOK SIGNING on Restoration Saturday turned out to be a grand meet- and-greet opportunity. I visited with some of my readers, near and far. I met some new people, and enjoyed talking both with the visitors and with my four fellow writers.

      Several people surveyed the writer lineup, and volunteered that they'd like to write, too. I know each of those folks has a story to tell, but doesn't know how to go about it.

      Well, you aspiring writers have come to the right place, if you're reading this. I taught several creative writing courses during my career, and I have some ideas that might help.

      There's nothing more daunting than a blank sheet of paper, or a blank computer screen. Break that barrier by a "hot pen" (or even "hot 'puter") exercise. Face that paper, and start writing. Anything. Write or type nursery rhymes, recipes, nonsense syllables, for a good five minutes. Just fill up that blank space. All of it - don't stop and think about what you're writing. You might even find later that some of the "nonsense" makes sense., but it doesn't  have to.

      You don't need to start at the beginning of the story. Write whatever part pops up. And don't let your mind edit, before committing something  to paper or to screen. I've dubbed that "mental constipation." If you can't think of the absolutely perfect word or sentence, just skip it and move on. You can fix it later, but you can't fix something you haven't written down.

      Don't worry about writing "literature" - Marcella Smith found she wrote best by pretending she was writing a letter to a friend. She later published a successful book, a collection of her memories. Or "journal" - write as if you're making a diary entry. Write what you're thinking; you can clean it up later.

      You can "write" some things when you're not at a desk. I keep a notebook in my purse, or on my bedside table, to jot down ideas or words.  If I depend on my memory to dredge those ideas up later, I lose. Dale Fry collected superstitions and folklore from coworkers, wrote them down and pocketed the notes. He later organized those notes, and published his book, "Quotes, Cures and Wives' Tales." 

      Not enough time to write? You don't need a whole block of time. In a spare five minutes, you can fill up an entire page. Use the wasted time in a doctor's waiting room, or during a TV commercial. Those five- minute pages don't have to be consecutive. You can start out by writing the end of your story. Or the middle, or the climax.

      Maybe you'll want to retell an old family story, but can't remember the facts. Doesn't matter. You can finesse that by writing "Aunt Moomy always told us....." That way, Aunt Moomy shoulders the blame for inaccuracies.

      And don't write only for publication.  If you're retelling those recollections, you're presenting a gift to your family. If you don't write down those memories, they're lost forever.

      So, surprise yourself. Start writing that "letter" today.

      THOUGHT FOR TODAY: "When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened."        --Alexander Graham Bell

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