xxxThe following writer has been kind enough
to share her story with us.
xxxIf you would like
to contribute your story and photo to me, email them to:
xxxrob@easywaytowrite.com
xxxThank you.
xxxDiane L Wood
The writing muse grabbed me by the ear
lobe in 1987 after re-locating from Victoria to
Queensland.Twelve page letters to relatives and friends
back home, describing our 63 year old strange house on
stilts, ‘the new kids on the block’ popularity
my children were experiencing and the incessant humidity
filled those tomes. I enjoyed writing.
Before I knew it I attended my first creative writing
class, a weekly six-lesson course. My muse’s
appetite grew voraciously. My confidence was low.
I’d completed year ten 20 odd years earlier. It was
hard to recall the correct grammar I’d learned.
Local writing groups, Romance Writers of Australia and
Queensland Writer’s Centre all helped my writing
improve. They’re invaluable resources.
With a passion for romance, excuse the pun, I focused on
the mushy stuff while a seed of fascination with my
maternal grandmother’s life germinated gradually.
Four years of intermittent writing and I completed a
fifty thousand word manuscript; politely rejected by
Mills and Boon. It was really bad and a huge learning
curve. Determination to finish a novel length manuscript
was established.
With many poems, a play, a song, three novel length
manuscripts and many, many shorts stories in my
collection and a few pieces in magazines and newspapers I
continue attending writing courses both di persona
and on-line.
A short story Revenge was published in a magazine
(also appears in EWTW Forum) and two poems have won
prizes. I guess I’ve done a couple of things right.
Recently I’ve completed a manuscript of my
grandmother’s life story. The story is not just
about the difficulties of surviving the early 1900s.
There’s another element. (You’ll have to wait
till it’s published to find out what it is.)
Every aspect of writing is a task of joy and pleasure.
Sometimes my muse gets lethargic. So I pull out a book by
someone like Diana Gabaldon and the universe stalls till
I finish reading it. The affect is like giving my muse a
drink of strong black coffee laced with 85% cocoa
chocolate. It gets excited, energetic and extremely
vocal.
I love reading, particularly self published true stories.
I have a cupboard full of them. Ordinary people do
amazing things.
My next project is the life of my father. He thinks
he’s an ordinary bloke though he’s achieved
some extraordinary things.
Before the final keystroke I must mention the impact of
Robyn Opie and Rob Parnell. They are masters in the
writing world with an abundance of experience and
generosity. They boost my moral, freely help with any
writing queries and make me feel important by answering
my emails personally. They’ve created a worldwide
on-line writing community. I believe it’s
second to none.
To them both, I drain my glass in sincere gratitude.
The writing muse grabbed me by the ear
lobe in 1987 after re-locating from Victoria to
Queensland.Twelve page letters to relatives and friends
back home, describing our 63 year old strange house on
stilts, ‘the new kids on the block’ popularity
my children were experiencing and the incessant humidity
filled those tomes. I enjoyed writing.