A Writer Will Learn To Write

Kate Hepburn: Reading her biography was heavenly.

Someone asked me where I went to school and I had to tell them that there was no one place. I learned my craft at the library like many writers. We have a fine library system in Northeast Ohio. I spent part of my youth in the Fine Arts Department of my city's main library. I tried to read as many Hollywood biographies as possible and I continue this practice to this day. And sure, I went to college, however, I discovered that craft is not easily taught when you don't have writing faculty members. I don't mean scholarly writers, I mean, working writers who teach the craft of fiction and non-fiction writing. There were several British Literature professors at my school, but I only had one real writer-teacher, and that was the late Sheila Schwartz. She was beloved by her students.

Sheila talked to you like a writer. She took you to task for your sloppy work, she complimented you when your work deserved it. I took advantage of my time with her to develop my skills as a fiction writer--I had been told not to go there. But I knew I was more than a memoir writer.

But I go back to reading biographies and what it did for me as a writer. I received inspiration from the stories of famous people. You never realize what a person goes through to ascend to great heights in this life. Biographies not only celebrate the life of the subject, but also that of the person who spent those years researching that person. I cannot imagine the hard work that is involved in writing the biography of a Hollywood icon like say, Katherine Hepburn.

If I were to be given a chance to write a biography, it would be difficult to think of a personality that I would want to spend years researching. Therefore, I'd probably rather research some like writer-director, JJ Abrams (Lost, Alcatraz, Cloverfield, Alias, etc.). He is almost like an old-school writer-director--someone with a definite non-Hollywood point-of-view. I am excited by this kind of against-the-grain thinking. Abrams thinks like a writer.  A writer will learn to write--his life is his classroom.