Deadlines and Reading

It is the last night before a packet must be in the mail and I am feeling nervous about the whole thing. It is always interesting to start over with a new advisor and learn their methods. I am happy that I got Jack this time around. I have been very lucky in who I have been able to work with during my program. It has been a wonderful and rewarding experience so far and I have one more year left before I am kicked out into the real world and expected to be able to do this on my own.

Reading, I think is the key here. Reading carefully and with an eye towards inspiration. My best story from last semester was a tribute to a good story I read. I read a story that I enjoyed and it sponsored questions in me that made me create my own story, made me want to write, not a rebuttal, but an associated piece that took the material from the story and twisted it a little bit. It was a great exercise. I think emulation is a huge part of being a beginning writer. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have great writers to read and emulate.

I'm not ashamed of the fact that I find inspiration in the work of others. I think there are people out there who would lash back at me and say that I am not "truly" creative, but I don't feel that way. I became infused with the desire to write by being an avid reader in my youth. I can remember how I used to devour books back then: C.S. Lewis, The Boxcar Children series, The Wizard of Oz series, Choose-Your-Own-Adventures, Roald Dahl, Beverly Cleary, etc. I read everything that I could get my hands on. The process of being engrossed in a book is one of the greatest pleasures I know. It is hard for most people to find the time to read but if they can, they should because it is one of the greatest endeavors one can gift to him/herself.

So, I read. And I've been trying to read a lot. As I go to work at the library tonight I will try and find my own voice but I know it will be more like a chorus of voices brought forth by the great works I have read in my own life.