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| Life of a Writer Mom Column July 2003 Column Learning Under the Masters by Carla Charter Often I am asked where I got my writing degree. Truth be told I don't have a writing degree. My bachelor's degree is in Early Childhood Education. The closest I've ever come to writing classes was a minor in English. That's not to say that I didn't have teachers though. My professors were finer than any University could offer and they've been teaching me since I was a young child. Always an avid bookworm I trained under the best that literature and the local library had to offer. Dickens, London, Alcott, and Twain. They've taught me everything they knew about the craft. The poets, Whitman, Frost, Dickenson, and yes even Dr. Seuss, taught me a new way to bring meaning to words. There are even more modern writers that I have learned from. Stephen King and his masterful way of bringing terror to your world. Colleen McCullough and the way she used her words to quietly steal my heart. And Alex Haley from whom I learned that the most interesting stories need not be far away. Sometimes they exist right in your own backyard or as in this case, even in your own family. My instructors continue to teach even to this day in surprising ways. When I wrote the rough draft of the first serial of Twin Springs Whispers it was boring and dull. Trust me, this comment comes from experience. It was bad. And I knew if I wasn't excited about the story neither would my readers. So what to do? The answer came through one of my all-time favorite authors, Charles Dickens. While mulling over the problem several days later in the grocery store, I noticed a copy of Great Expectations. Not having read it since I was a teenager, I bought the book. I read several chapters when I realized that Dickens had written the story in the first person, so craftily that I didn't even notice it. What, I wondered, would happen if I wrote the story of Twin Springs Whispers the same way? I grabbed a notebook and started furiously writing. The characters galloped onto the page and several chapters later I sat back with a satisfied sigh. My teachers had come through once again. Leaving their shadows on my writing once again. Carla Charter is mom to Samantha (12), Halden (5), and Mathew (4). In addition to being a mom, Carla is a freelance writer specializing in newspaper and magazine journalism. Among her publication credits are Woman's World, American Indian Report and New England Business Journal. Online she has been published in Scubasource.com and Military.com. She teaches creative writing courses at Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, Ma. Recently her novel Across Lots has been serialized at http://www.newenglandwow.com. She may be reached at cjfreelancewriter@earthlink.net. |
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