I've been writing words since I was about ten. I started out writing poetry, and then journalism, and then plays, and then television, and then movies, and now... ta da! A novel! This is the first novel I've ever written and it was a pretty wild experience. When you write plays, you get to finish a draft and then work with other people -- designers, directors, actors.
Writing a novel is such a solitary experience. It's like being up in a little solo airplane flying at night over the desert. That's how I kept feeling. You spend most of your time hanging out with characters who don't even exist, really; who know one else knows, but who you start to know better than a lot of the people in your life. But now there's this book with a jacket and it's in the window of my local bookstore and I have something I can give to friends for Christmas this year. The great thing about writing is that there are so many forms and it can be such a great ticket to get into the heart of things.
If anyone is reading this blog who likes to write, keep going! It will enrich your life enormously and don't worry about whether it's good or not. That's not important. What's important is that you do it. No one can take that journey away from you. There. Did I just write my first blog entry?
Joan Ackermann
Author of In the Space Left Behind
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