An occasional writer's journal

I imagined myself back in college today when I took a refresher course in creative writing from an online English professor, albeit from the comfort of my armchair.

As a news reporter I gave little thought to the process of creative writing when I was squeezing quotes and background data into paragraphs to fit the style rules and column space of my newspaper.

I remember the photojournalist character played by Clint Eastwood in the movie The Bridges of Madison County, saying, “My writing’s too technical, I think. Problem of being a journalist too long is you stop giving yourself permission to invent.”

I admit that I’d go for weeks without reading a work of fiction with the lame excuse that I couldn’t relax with a book after a day spent working with text. Letter writing would be the extent of my creative output.

I’m making amends by gradually reading the books I’d put aside in years past. Fortunately the internet gives unprecedented access to a wealth of free literature now in the public domain. My idea was to inspire inventive attempts to complete my draft novel, although the process of compiling a selection of classic short stories in the planning of this journal brought to mind the craft of short story writing.

I was reeling from a less-than-persuasive critique of my novel’s synopsis when I bookmarked a series of online video tutorals by Professor David M. Harris of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, posted on the website ExpertVillage. What the prof doesn’t know about preparing oneself to write probably isn’t worth knowing. I’d recommend his advice to any would-be novelist or short story writer, along with his guidelines on format writing and the authoring of formal academic papers.