Here goes.
photo by János Fehér
I went to trivia once in the last year. It was last fall and I was with two friends. Some of their friends joined us later in the evening. A quiet man about ten years older than me sat down on my left. We didn’t say much to one another for a while, focusing instead on drawing a blank for each new trivia question. Between rounds we shook hands and introduced ourselves. He was visiting Dalhousie and had, that evening, delivered a free public lecture. I asked him what he does. The lecture was on the topic of a recent book, but his daily work was as the managing editor at one of Canada’s big newspapers.
Struck by this chance to talk writing with an expert, I told him my dream of being a writer. His whole countenance changed as he absorbed my excitement. I worried I would bother him with my inexperienced ramblings and questions, but he seemed totally charmed and offered advice.
“Start writing”, he said. “Write for the school newspaper. And start a blog. Cite and link to other people’s work. People will read what you wrote to see what you were saying about their work.”
Almost a year later, we’re still in touch and I did start writing for the school newspaper (http://dalgazette.com/category/opinions/science-column/). Now it’s on to the next step – the first post of my new blog. Here goes.
in the skin of a writer 