The beautiful part of writing is that you don’t have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon.
~ Robert CormierI can’t remember a time, really, when I haven’t been a writer. Reading and writing were the two great escapes of my life and I suppose they still are.
Robert CormierI have always had a sense that we are all pretty much alone in life, particularly in adolescence.
Robert Cormier
When I was in grammar school Robert Cormier was my favorite author. I loved reading his books because he “got” teenagers. I didn’t feel dumbed down and I felt that he understood what I was going through and what I wanted to read. The Chocolate War was published in 1974 his first book for teens and he was in his forties. (there’s still hope for me.) This book was banned by many libraries for many years. Nothing in the books offended kids only uninformed parents that didn’t want to accept their kids were growing up and may relate to something in this book.
As far as not getting it right the first time, I think that Mr. Cormier speaks to the power of the edit. So today, work on editing, freewrite for 20 minutes and come back tomorrow to finish up your freewriting exercise.
Congrats to Jim for getting two of his shorts published. Now get back to work!
Lovingly,
The Writing Nag
Thank you for the plug – always appreciated.