My very first completed story, I had written on a tablet. My very first one – both tablet and book. I had no idea what I was doing, no idea what I was getting myself into, or if I’d even like it. But I was alone, my husband was away on work related trips, and at night, after my kids were tucked into bed, I started dreaming up a world and writing it down on the tiniest of screens.
Books weren’t enough for me anymore. I craved more. I needed more. I wanted to create my own story, my own characters, and my own pocket into paranormal world. Ideas, adventures, twists and turns, and all these different people with their own personality began to form in my mind. They were my babies – imperfect but loved by who created them: me.
Along the way, my skills and ideas began to take form. I grew pet-peeves, likes, and dislikes for the authoring and writing world. For example, I have come to dislike -ly words. I find them a waste of description…a complete waste of a word. I see them, even in my own work, and I cringe.
“She slowly opened the door and carefully walked toward me.”
NO! This isn’t how it happened. Show me, show them! She may have slowly opened it, but you’re not giving the whole picture, I would tell myself.
And here’s where I began to see the bigger picture: “The door handle turned and she popped her head around the corner. Hesitating between the frame, she opened the door wider, slipped through, and took careful, deliberate steps in my direction.”
Paint the picture, I would tell myself. This is your canvas.
And that’s where the pet peeve began.
Writing isn’t a world of perfection. It doesn’t just pop out of your head. A single sentence can sometimes take several minutes to write. It’s raw, feral, imperfect, aggravating, time consuming, and sometimes, it can take everything you’ve got. It can suck every ounce of energy you have. But it’ll also gives back more than it takes.
As Authors, we often see the scene and forget to write it down – or – we write too little. Sometimes, we even write too much. There’s a balance. The trick is, to find it.
I’ve learned that it takes a team. A team of fresh eyes to point out these blank areas that aren’t painted for our readers. I’m grateful for the people who take time from their life to help me grow in my new adventure – To help me learn to paint on a canvas that was once invisible to me. To see this world I had never taken the time to consider, before I began to emerge myself in it. I used to be the bystander – the tourist viewing the art gallery. Now, I’m the painter who’s pictures are on display.
And with these fresh eyes, these wonderful people … this team … I’ve grown. And I couldn’t be more grateful.
They taught me how to paint.
D. Fischer 
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