BIO assignment 1

ASSIGNMENT ONE

Discussion Topic:

         I will start the discussion with my own bio: I’m a male in my mid fifties who never thought I would live this long and I lived that way it wasn't due to health issues but a life style.  As the cliche states “if I had known, I would have taken better care of myself…” That being what it may, I have now started on an aspect of my life undefined, uncharted and as yet unplanned.  Like most folks with this many sunsets behind them I have had many varied and unusual experiences.  Many of the most powerful ones are those that are most common in life. Marriage, divorce, the birth of children, the life and death of friends and loved ones, the near brushes of death and the day to day that can if we are not careful consume years. To put it succinctly, I am one out of over six billion served, common as a snowflake and just as unique.

      I do not keep a journal or diary. My method for starting a fictional story starts as with everyone; an idea. These come from life itself or a prompt. Either way I sit and either outline where the story needs to go and what it is trying to say or I just sit and write it out, IF it is a short one 1500 words or less. I generally make very detail outlines with any story that is longer. I use note or index cards which I clothes pin to a string I have strung across my writing area. I generally carry a notebook or have one handy as thoughts of character qualities or defects occur to me as to record these thoughts as well as scene details.
         I don’t blog at all.  Think of a blog as a journal more than a diary which I consider more of a personal thing. I have one blog on the web that I follow closely and I do consider it a public journal.

BIO:

        I writer under the name of Thaylon Taylor. I have until now never had any formalized training in writing as a craft. I was encouraged by others here to extend, stretch, strengthen, and pursue my talent such as may or may not exist in me. Hence the attempt at a class or two.

         I would one day like to have had the satisfaction of sharing my work with others through publication. I would like to finish a novel or two or three I have started. I would also like to write article or column pieces and make not only a few dollars doing so but perhaps make a small difference on issues I feel strongly about.

         I’m an across the board reader, except perhaps Harlequin novels and poetry. I read everything from Terry Brooks to Mark Twain, How To’s to Hemingway. I have also taken a poetry class at N.H. in order to learn more about it since I do write the stuff. My reading has taken on a new point of view these days. I find myself reading allot of best-sellers and revisiting the classics more to see what style and quality they possess that has made them so popular. I don’t sit analyze and dissect them, but I am aware of sentence structure, character and plot development more now that I have committed myself to writing as a craft.

         My strengths in writing short stories if any, maybe the ability to tell a story. I think I have a natural ability to develop characters and plots. My weaknesses are being able to record that same story on paper. Reading something is harder to than hearing something, by that I mean it is easier for the storyteller vs. the author. There are no gestures or inflections with writing, only the pen to convey the thoughts and story line. Also punctuation and formatting are weak areas. I have also taken a class here at NH to help in these areas as well.