Wilcox County
Author
“Sometimes I
can write a column in 20 minutes, if the thoughts are flowing free. Other times
I may have this single point I build around or I will have a string of words
repeating in my head that sound good spelled out on paper. I will write the
whole column just to use that string of words. Those take a little longer to
write.
I have
written compulsively since I was a child, but started writing officially when I
became a staff writer with The Clarke County Democrat in Grove Hill, Alabama
in 1993. I have tried to draw, paint and play music. They were all such an
effort. They took huge focus and I still wasn't very good. With writing, it’s
like I am the pen. Words flow through.
I was 21
when I started at The Clarke County Democrat. And turn 40 in a few months. I
didn't write as much when my children were babies and toddlers. My focus then,
besides mothering, was on becoming authentic. I realized early on that people
liked to read truth. I knew in order to write straightforward I had to become a
seriously authentic person.
I am mostly
self-taught as a writer. My dad belonged to this Spokesman’s Club when I was
growing up. He was a member for years and every month they would learn some new
element involved with public speaking. They learned to get the audience’s
attention, and how to add color, or humor. They learned to express emotions
through words. And I guess I picked up on some of that on some level…because it
wasn’t from college. I didn't learn to write in college. I was going to teach
biology, anatomy, physiology…I never intended to be a creative writer.
The most
rewarding part of writing is having people tell me they have related to
something I have written. Or that I have touched them in some way. I have
strived to write from such a place of truth. When someone does relate to me, I
know they are coming from a place of truth too.”