Sorry you ended up so discouraged about writing in college. My respect for academia (as opposed to education) is slipping all the time.
My education in writing pertained to journalism and my practical education was in writing public relations material and other nonfiction educational pieces.
I read very little romance (though I also loved Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary as a teen), but when I began writing, that's what came out. And then I proceeded to read heavily in that genre to better learn the conventions.
Part of the problem was that I definitely didn't do enough research on colleges. I think I might have had a different experience at a different school. But these professors also should have behaved better.
Interesting that romance is what came to you. You write it well!
We have one through college and one looking, so we're becoming more savvy at sussing out colleges. It's a challenge. And thank you for the compliment. :-)
I loved reading your story, Katie! I started writing poetry when I was a young person and bought some Writers Digest books about writing craft a little while on. I was a medical student for a time and then my family needed help at their business (and I was running out of money) so I changed my major to English Lit. I wrote my first romance after college and also wrote a chic lit novel and after a bunch of rejections I gave up for a while. I'm still getting rejections lol but there have been lots of successes too. So I keep tapping away between Women's Fiction and romance and am hoping to get that one yes! I love your writing btw and we are all glad you found your way back! 💜🦋
I started to write fiction about 2.5 years ago. Up until that point, all my writing had been academic: first as a research scientist, then as the editor of a medical journal, and finally working in research communications. I always thought I'd write a gritty Tartan Noir crime novel, but I just couldn't do it. Everything I wrote felt forced, false. Thanks to broadening my circle of online writing friends to include some folks creating short stories in various genres, my fiction now sits comfortably within a Venn diagram of comedy, crime and romance. And my writer's voice is 100% my authentic voice. Oh, and I have zero plans to ever write a novel!
This was fun to read! I enjoyed hearing how you got here. And I agree you are great at writing it!
Thanks, Mary!
Sorry you ended up so discouraged about writing in college. My respect for academia (as opposed to education) is slipping all the time.
My education in writing pertained to journalism and my practical education was in writing public relations material and other nonfiction educational pieces.
I read very little romance (though I also loved Jean and Johnny by Beverly Cleary as a teen), but when I began writing, that's what came out. And then I proceeded to read heavily in that genre to better learn the conventions.
Part of the problem was that I definitely didn't do enough research on colleges. I think I might have had a different experience at a different school. But these professors also should have behaved better.
Interesting that romance is what came to you. You write it well!
We have one through college and one looking, so we're becoming more savvy at sussing out colleges. It's a challenge. And thank you for the compliment. :-)
I loved reading your story, Katie! I started writing poetry when I was a young person and bought some Writers Digest books about writing craft a little while on. I was a medical student for a time and then my family needed help at their business (and I was running out of money) so I changed my major to English Lit. I wrote my first romance after college and also wrote a chic lit novel and after a bunch of rejections I gave up for a while. I'm still getting rejections lol but there have been lots of successes too. So I keep tapping away between Women's Fiction and romance and am hoping to get that one yes! I love your writing btw and we are all glad you found your way back! 💜🦋
Thanks, Laura! I'm rooting for you to get that yes!
I started to write fiction about 2.5 years ago. Up until that point, all my writing had been academic: first as a research scientist, then as the editor of a medical journal, and finally working in research communications. I always thought I'd write a gritty Tartan Noir crime novel, but I just couldn't do it. Everything I wrote felt forced, false. Thanks to broadening my circle of online writing friends to include some folks creating short stories in various genres, my fiction now sits comfortably within a Venn diagram of comedy, crime and romance. And my writer's voice is 100% my authentic voice. Oh, and I have zero plans to ever write a novel!
Thanks for sharing, Vicky! I have a future post planned about how I finally realized I don't want to write a novel.
very insightful... glad you found your voice and joy. Always love a happy ending as well!