Enthralled Magazine Vol 1 Issue 2 - Reflect

Discovery of a unique voice. Age
39. Hallelujah! Writing my novel
Dance of Souls was the first time I
felt like the words on the page
truly came from me, not from
some concept of what I thought a
writer of literary fiction should
sound like. Be patient. This takes
time.
Internalizing craft. Age 50 to
present. In the last few years,
writing has come to feel like
driving a car. I can execute the
mechanics without conscious
thought, which leaves me free to
look at the road ahead, plan my
journey, and navigate to new
places. Again: practice.
Teaching others. Age 50 to present.
Recently I’ve begun to teach
others, both through editing and
through a workshop I’m creating
with a long-time friend and
fellow writer. Not everyone can
teach formally, but even
exchanging editing services with
a fellow writer teaches you things
you can’t learn just by looking at
your own work.
Always returning to the work. Every
day. I’ve kept a journal since I was
12 and have written nearly every
day since then—sometimes
formally, sometimes just notes to
myself. Do I write a lot of crap?
Sure. But that doesn’t stop me
from going back to write the next
day. When you’re not born
perfect, you need to look at
creation as a process—and
practice self-forgiveness.