Reviewing with River

Ha-ha, this has become an excellent discussion topic! I should note while having made contributions to the Non-fiction writer's world. Of those, one publication, the US Government, uses almost every day.

These successes lulled me into thinking I could be a creative writer. But to my chagrin, I had to learn that Technical Manuals, Textbooks, Patent Apps, Due Diligence Reports and Operations Standards Manuals are as different to Fiction writing as Air is to Water. Both have the same essential elements. But, the minutia at the atomic level makes all the difference.

Yet, learning to understand these differences can provide an Epiphany as adrenaline filled as riding a thermal nuclear device to its target. Luckily this excitement is what provides the motivation to subject one’s self to all the pains that must be endured to become a fiction writer.


By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15966835

In an attempt to discover the application of these millions of little details, I have, and continue, to attend classes, lectures, and conferences. I’ve joined two Writer's Associations. I have read, 40 plus books, by the so-called experts on the subject.

From all these venues, I gleaned small parts of the process. However, they remained disconnected, never forming a coherent image. Then I started doing a few reviews in which I tried to share my new knowledge with others. To my surprise, I learn as much or more about creative writing from reviewing than I do from all the other sources combined.

Now, it remains for me to find the motivation to go back and revise all the items I’ve written in those Pre-enlightened efforts. I would just delete them, but then it would seem like tossing out one’s child just because they have a few warts. (Okay, some of my stuff has a lot of warts, even carbuncles,) But still, their cute little curls are so endearing. Oh, my word! I may have just discovered why the fourth child turns out so much better than the first.