From the Desk Of
AMANDA FOLSONSecrets of a Story
I’ve told a number of people that I’ve been working on a book for a while. Usually people ask me what it’s about, and I’m forced to tell them very few details about it. This usually brings up some comment about how I should solidify my story in my head before putting it on paper and a few “helpful” tips are given to me to help me get started. But the real reason that I offer little information about my story is because there would be no need to write it if I went around telling people what it was about.
I believe one of the joys of writing includes keeping your story a secret until you’re ready to share it with the world. It takes time to hone your writing skills and polish the work that you’ve created, and many people opt to share their work before putting some time into essentially rewriting it in a better way. By the time they get around to sharing their finished work, I’m over it. Been there, read that.
Personally, I want to write a book that’s so amazing that you don’t want to put it down. At the end of the book, I want you to be sad that it ended. I want there to be the right amount of suspense and action and I want you to get absorbed into the world that I created. These goals are impossible if I tell you what happens before I finish the book. In my opinion, anyone who writes is a writer, whether it’s for work, fun, school, or any combination thereof. You wouldn’t show your boss something that wasn’t finished yet, would you? Would you hand in a paper that was only partially completed? Didn’t think so. Why would you tell someone your story when you’re not ready to tell it properly?
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