74red

I knew the evil clown before he was bad, back when he used to be nothing more than an advertisement for a Foodtown supermarket. Growing up in Middletown, New Jersey, the garish sign was a common if not daily sight, located as he was on RT 35, one of the major roads through my suburban hometown. We used to pass the clown every time I went to my horseback riding lessons.

He was always kind of creepy with his painted on smirk and red-tipped index finger, but relatively harmless. What interested me more was the owner of the sign. Why would someone select such a sign? I wanted to know what made this guy tick.

This drive of mine to uncover peoples’ motivations ties into some writing advice that was recently given to me by my MFA grad school mentor John Searles. He passed on to me this saying, “Make your characters want something from the very first moment, even if it’s a glass of water.” Hmmn, I thought. That makes perfect sense.

So maybe one day I’ll write a story about a business owner who selects a creepy clown to advertise his business. However, because I have to finish the rough draft of my YA novel, just knowing that the slowly disintegrating Evil Clown of Middletown is still greeting people traveling along RT 35 is enough for me.

I’m not talking about the online world of social networking, which is also critical, but your local writers’ groups and organizations. Connecting online is so commonplace and simple these days that it’s easy to forget about the real world, especially if you’re a bit of a reclusive introvert like me.

However, when I started to focus more seriously on my fiction writing, I began to look for a writers’ group in the Manchester area. My initial searches were fruitless, and then I re-discovered the New Hampshire Writers’ Project (NHWP). I’d been a member off and on for years, but had never actually attended one of their events or workshops.

I noticed that they were starting to hold quarterly book clubs for writers around the state. There wasn’t one in Manchester yet, so I volunteered to host one. To make a long story short, I discovered that there was indeed a vibrant community of writers just outside my door. Through the NHWP, I’ve taken several fantastic workshops and met many fascinating people all of whom encouraged me in the pursuit of my writing goals. I also discovered the MFA program at SNHU thanks to the NHWP for which I’m very grateful.

If you haven’t already, you should investigate what your area has to offer in terms of local writers’ groups. They’ll appreciate the support and you’ll more than likely deepen and strengthen your writing network. And if you live in New Hampshire, definitely check out the NHWP.

The past year has gone by in a fever dream. I recovered from a climbing accident that severely injured my left hand, enrolled in the MFA program at Southern New Hampshire University, ended a relationship, started a new one, and left the day job. You know, just the usual stuff that happens over the course of a year.

In this year of flux, the one thing that’s remained constant in 2011 is my desire to write. Some published authors say that the only thing they’re capable of doing is writing. Since I’ve been a somewhat successful IT professional for the past 11 years, I know that I can do other things.

But writing is scary, so scary that I waited 35 years to take my writing seriously. And now even as I write this inaugural post for my blog, I’m wondering if what I’m writing is worth the space. At some point though, the calling becomes stronger than the fear. You can only shut out that voice for so long before it becomes a roar, before it sends the fear scurrying to the darkest corners of your head, and drives you to peck away at the keyboard at all hours of the day and night. The actual act of writing tends to calm the roar down to a dull moan, at least for me.

So I’m taking a break from the corporate world for a bit, kicking fear in the teeth, and seeing how far I can get with the first draft of my young adult novel. I hope you’ll follow along with me as I blog about writing and related topics here at 74red.com.