Being a writer was not one of the many career choices I had in mind when I was younger. Sure, I loved books and reading, but never considered attempting to actually write until I was a young PFC in the Marine Corps in the winter of 1982. I wrote a lot of poetry during that time and even began to write a short story about a private investigator named Rick Slade ( little did I realize until a few years later, the name Rick Slade was already taken). It was in the first person and, more than likely, inspired by the film Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid with Steve Martin. The short story was never finished, but completed or not, it helped me get a feeling for what I could do with my imagination, as long as I could somehow convey it onto paper. More inspirations for my early writing were the works of Rod Serling, The World According To Garp by John Irving but, of course, my biggest influences were Ian Fleming, Don Pendleton and Clive Cussler. Other than taking a few creative writing courses in high school and one semester in college, I never had any formal training to be a writer. I just wrote from many pages of notes and let spell checker do the rest. If my passage looked and sounded right, I would leave it alone. If not, I would find a way to make it sound right. I still have a lot to learn and the easiest way to learn, is to write. Having said that, I would like to share an inspiring story on writing I heard recently: Once upon a time, a night school creative writing teacher sat at his desk, while his new students filed into the classroom and took their seats. Once they were settled in, the teacher stood before the class and introduced himself, then asked them; "So, you all want to be writers, do you?" and the class said "Yes." Then the teacher replied back, "Well, why aren't you at home writing?" I really don't have any advice for new writers out there, because I still am a novice myself, but I will tell them this: If you want to write, then just write. It doesn't matter if you are any good or not, just write because the more you write, the better you will get. Read everything you can in your chosen genre and write even more. Keep a journal or a note book and follow your dreams and imagination, New worlds can be created with just one blank sheet of paper and a pencil or pen. Go out and start dreaming and creating.
