“You gotta git to gittin'”
Mark Twain was a journalist before he was a novelist. He wrote short stories before he wrote novels. It is fun read the first chapter of Tom Sawyer knowing he started it to be a play but quickly changed to a novel. Chapter one dialogue reads like a play often complete with stage directions for the actors.
His work started out mostly humorous but ended up full of critical social commentary. It is eventually peppered with science of the day from fingerprinting to electricity. (He was friends with Nicholas Tesla and was filmed by Thomas Edison.)
What does that mean to writers today? First: you will not be the same writer tomorrow that you are today. Second: don’t be discouraged if you start small. Third: not all his work was well received. (Ever hear of The Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc?) Fourth: none of us get it all the first time out. It may take several stories or books to reach that place you want to be.
But, as Twain said, first you have to start.
Hit the little X in the top right corner and get started.
