2025 - July - Writing, A Life-long Endeavor

 

Being a writer—with all its successes and failures, raptures and rejections—is a life-long endeavor. Less a career choice than a calling, its rewards are often so private and ambiguous as to be unexpressible. – Dennis Palumbo Writing from the Inside Out 

Writing? A life-long endeavor? Are we talking womb to tomb?

Some might say it's a person's genetic predisposition to become a writer. Others say the writing ability sparked in early childhood from being read to by a parent or caregiver or being surrounded by books. 

Whatever the spark was, it took learning to read and then years of education to master the English language. Likely at some point, a love of words led to writing stories. 

But what about having a talent for writing? Unfortunately, talent takes one only so far. It is learning and honing the devices and techniques of the writing craft that enhances and liberates creativity. Mastering craft elements requires a stick-to-it-ness, a commitment to striving to become a really good writer—or storyteller or essayist or memoirist.

Writing and storytelling can be a life-long endeavor resulting in successful publication. Writing can also become the self-satisfaction of never publishing but knowing one writes well and tells a story well.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer?

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I'll be giving two workshops at this year's Writer's Road Trip #13, October 4, 2025, Zem Zem Shrine Club, Erie PA  www.pennwriters.org 

The workshops are:

A Fine-Tuned Engine: Learn the secrets, tips, and tricks to cutting words, tightening prose, and staying within word counts and page limits. This will be a hands-on session---bring 3 hard copy pages of a work in progress, double spaced, 1" margins all around, the widow-orphans feature turned off, and three highlighters (yellow, blue, and pink).

BACK TO THE GARAGE - Flashbacks, recalls, remembrances, and recollections. How not to stop the story's flow and still get in the necessary back-story elements.

And - 

THE PITCH DOCTOR WILL BE IN! Known in Pennwriters as The Pitch Doctor, I will be available to conference participants who want to practice or hone their pitches before going to their pitch appointments. 

REGISTRATION OPENS JULY 1ST. 

LUNCH IS INCLUDED IN THE FEE.

https://pennwriters.org/writers_roadtrip

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