THIS IS ME
People very often ask me what I write,and just as often, it seems,they append their own idea: “a diary?” I suppose it actually started off being that – a daily diary - noting if it was raining or if the sun was shining – that sort of important data. It quickly became a journal, however, dealing with many things and with commentary of my life as I lived it then.
I remember writing about each and every movie we saw, and there were hundreds of them because that was our main spare-time activity. To see a movie, plus some commercials on the screen the plus a comedy, a news reel, a short subject feature, the featured movie itself, and perhaps a chapter in the then running serial western - all for the sum of of twenty-five cents. Where else could we have found such a value? Of course,it must be remembered that twenty-five cents was what we got for cutting and raking a lawn, and what some grown men got to weeding corn all day on a farm. I wrote about other subjects, as well, including the news of the day sense of being a writer all my life.
I can't say when when that occurred, but somewhere in my early teens I knew that was what I wanted to do and I had very little idea about how to go about doing it. I discovered “Writer's Digest” in Ohio, “The Writer”, from Boston and one called “Author & Journalist”, which was, I think, published in Denver for a short time. Writer's Digest was one which dealt more with the commercial side or writing, while The Writer tended toward the literary side. There were others from time to time, but they,as rule did not last long and proved to be see-your-name-in-print v vanity things. I had already seen my name in print and some small payments had come my way, so I leaned rather heavily toward the Digest and their fine Annual edition -the Yearbook – which listed the nation' top paying markets ...through the mediums ...the smalls and right down to the nothings. I think I tried most of them at one time or another.
Ego plays an important role in the making of a writer. I am appalled when I look back and find some of the pitiful material I channeled to some magazines and newspapers,but that is the way one grows and gradually the awareness of your true worth become evident – often as somewhat of a shock, too. Writers,like actors, have to maintain a feeling which tells them how good they are at regular intervals, otherwise they slip and fall backward into ordinary living ...and poor, self- centered writing.
I've never regretted my choice. It took some odd turns and I ended up with the major portion of my writing being done in the form of commercial advertising copy. However, along with that, there were writing adventures in PR work, articles, sales presentations, incentive trip scripts, a musical comedy, some songs, columns and some poetry. All of this background has given me some good feelings now in my “sunset” days ...as they call them.
“Sunset? Far from it! Stand back! I'm just getting started!
A.L.M. Sept.29,2002 [c549wds]
