Write more often

I had my first class last night. The teacher is reminiscent of James Woods with perk – very odd and he doesn’t listen well. After I said that I had been published as a poet, he asked me if I wrote poetry.

Our first class assignment – two pages of description where each of the five basic senses is given its due. So, if I’m seeing roses, I’m smelling them, feeling the thorn prick my finger, hearing the bee buzzing around it, and reminding myself of that great rosehip tea I tasted. I’ve got the experience to write about, but I want to write something that won’t be typical of the others in class.

I had a biopsy once. The lump was on the roof my mouth and the doc cut an artery. I bled for hours and they ended up bringing in an ER surgeon who cauterized the thing after all the anesthesia wore off. As for smell – there’s nothing like the smell of flesh being burned, especially when it’s yours and the scent comes from inside your head.

Yum yum! Descriptive enough?

I signed up for a creative writing class at my local community college. I don’t know what the class will be like. It’s part of their continuing education courses. I signed up mostly to start developing some better writing habits. I figure if I have assignments, then I’ll have to write.

I have a character in my head that I want to use for a novel. I also have some of the obstacles she will have to overcome, but I’m lacking the book’s structure. I need more plot. Maybe that’s not quite it. I need a framework to hang my story on and that’s what I have to find.

I used to have a job. It was nice while it lasted. Anyhow, I made a friend there, but she moved two states away. The thing about this friend is that she wrote for magazines quite often. She did travel/adventure stories.

I haven’t spoken to her for a very long time and tonight she called me. I was searching for someone to talk over my ideas for my novel and she has agreed to be that person. She’s ideal for this!!!

She is very smart and very well read. She will not BS me at all. I can tell her all my ideas, even the stupid one. I trust her judgment. Then, best of all, she thinks my writing a novel is a good idea, that I have the ability.

So, a few days ago I was bemoaning my not having someone to talk to about all this stuff and today, I do!!!

I am ecstatic!

I have the experiences to draw on to write a good novel. What I’m lacking is the structure for it. How do I take these experiences and put them into a piece of fiction? I don’t know if I want to write in first person or third person. I do know that I want to have the childhood stuff be the stuff of flashbacks or recollections rather than being the center of the story. At least I think so. I’m too confused. I need to find someone to sit down with me and hash out ideas.