Warrior-Writer
Where to start the first blog post?
Writing has been a lifelong obsession. As a child, obsessive journaling resulted in today's expansive journal collection, but it wasn't enough. The compulsive urge to write led to enrollment into various writing courses within university studies, from beginning to advanced level; however, the real fun began after taking a few workshops and joining face-to-face writing groups as my working career led me to write for marketing campaigns and for technical. Writing for large corporations, small businesses, and for private Through the years, I cultivated composition awareness and self-editing skills, and then a STRANGE turning point impacted my pathetic box-shaped preconceived notions about writing.
One evening, during a writing group meeting, I met a soft-spoken, sweet, gray-haired lady who authored popular novels with steamy sex scenes. She taught me, a young writer, that age can enhance the ability to strand written words together in intriguing ways. With youth, we can deliver with a fresh approach that's priceless, but we mustn't forget that experience combined with bravery can be quite effective.
Her publisher's advances became significant enough to consider retirement from her teaching position, especially since she was in her early 60's. Each week, from meeting to meeting, the writing group buzzed with excitement over her awesome predicament. Then, during one of our meetings, with teary eyes, she let everyone know that her district's administrators, along with the school board, had discovered her books. Uh-Oh. I suppose it was inevitable.
A super-duper conscientious "reader" of her works sent a few copies of pulsating book passages to the school board, and it was settled...they forced her into retirement due to a violation of the "moral code" in the teacher's contract. Already eligible to retire, she accepted the forced discharge as a golden opportunity to write full-time. The district did her a favor.
At that time, I was the youngest woman in that drab little room at the local community center designated as our meeting location. The teacher marked with the scarlet letter cried to the group about the school disregarding her loyal, stellar record as a teacher for more than 30 years. Shared anguish made its way around the room in mere seconds, and then we, her fellow writers, spontaneously stood to clap, cheer and congratulate her for entering a brave new phase in life. She had been cut down and pruned, yet the temporary pain helped her to branch further than she dreamed.
On that day, the roots of my inner-writer grew stronger, stabilizing my resolve to be a lifelong warrior-writer, even if it's simultaneously dreamy and nightmarish. The reward is knowing you refused to give up or give in.
Lana R. Black, Author