TakeARisk's profile

  I chose the user name TakeARisk because I feel like that’s exactly what I need to be doing now.  I have been playing my life very safely, and, not suprisingly, safe is not getting me where I want to be.  
  I do have a great job as a junior high school English teacher.  I love the interaction and sharing great ideas.  It’s also a safe place to write.  Junior High students are easily impressed.  But, again with the safe.
  Writing has always been a joy to me.  I love being good at something so cerebral.  In college, it was my greatest pleasure to make the highest scores on writing assignments.  
  I wrote my first novella in high school.  I’ve written many, many short stories.  My poems seem to me to be a bit mundane, or I try too ha…

  I chose the user name TakeARisk because I feel like that’s exactly what I need to be doing now.  I have been playing my life very safely, and, not suprisingly, safe is not getting me where I want to be.  
  I do have a great job as a junior high school English teacher.  I love the interaction and sharing great ideas.  It’s also a safe place to write.  Junior High students are easily impressed.  But, again with the safe.
  Writing has always been a joy to me.  I love being good at something so cerebral.  In college, it was my greatest pleasure to make the highest scores on writing assignments.  
  I wrote my first novella in high school.  I’ve written many, many short stories.  My poems seem to me to be a bit mundane, or I try too hard and they sound contrived.  I think my best talent is creating a sense of place.  I also have fallen in love with a few of my characters.  I wonder about them when I’m doing other things.
  I live in a small town, and wow! We have some great fodder for stories around here.  But, the truth here really is stranger than fiction.  Most critics would complain that the plots seem far-fetched.  Anyway, as soon as I start writing about the crazy drama teacher who believes that he is really a secret agent for the CIA, he’ll read about it and sue me for libel.  Can he do that?
  Although this meandering through my mind has been irrelevant to taking risks, I do have a serious writing goal. Well, a few.  I have a novel idea that I finally figured out how to end.  (I have to know the whole plot before I can write the beginning)  I’d like to have that completely written and ready for review by the end of August.  My next goal is to find an agent or get published or both or something like that.  Yeah, I also need to get educated on that whole “I wrote it, now what do I do with it?” issue.
  Thanks for taking the time to “meet” me.  I’m honestly terrified about reviews, but I welcome them none the less.  I realize I’m far from perfect and appreciate your constructive criticism.  
  Yours in the Written Word