Writing as a reader

I have always struggled with the title Author.  By definition, if you write something, you are an author, but “Author” sounds formal and precise.  I picture a tweed jacket with elbow patches and pipe.  I see an author sitting with a tumbler and bottle of scotch, discussing philosophy and how their novel will change how the world thinks.

I am a reader who is writing something I want to read.  I started writing as an extension of playing Dungeons and Dragons in the 80s. It was pencil and paper then.  There were dice, but the story was what kept people coming back.  Contrary to popular belief, nerds had lives and would wander off if the story was not compelling.  A good Dungeon Master had to tell a good story.  How else could you get people to spend hours each weekend excited to see what happened next?

So when I write, I try to think of the reader.  What do I want to read?  I am not the most gifted technical writer.  Thanks to Grammarly, I now have commas mainly in the correct place unless I get in a fight with it and give up.  I am that person who watches a bad movie or reads an okay novel and thinks, “That could be perfect if they just said…”  So often, we can add one sentence and fix so many problems.  

I took up the challenge and thought, how hard can it be?  It is easy to come up with an idea.  It is almost impossible to get that idea to survive six months of writing and come out the other side looking anything like the initial thought.  Characters have a mind of their own and often refuse to cooperate.

Writing made me respect other creators.  I and willing to watch a movie about a good idea and forgive a weak special effects budget or subpar acting.  I will also forgive when someone tries a little too hard and falls flat.  If you are trying to create your own language to use in a movie or a novel, you might be spending too much time on that and miss the point of the entire story, but by all means, I can’t wait to read your subtitles for 2 hours.  It is fun creating.

I once wrote a novella that existed in three separate timelines.  Each one is identified by a different color font.  It was a train wreck.  I grew to hate it after just a few days, and it sits unfinished.  I still think it is a really cool idea.  I will likely never revisit it.  

I heard this recently, and I am stealing it.  If you are a reader, write something.  You have just as much right to be read as anyone else.   Write what you like to read and share it with the world.