Bob's Write from the Start: Three Quarters of the Way Through a New Article

Bob's Write from the Start

Bob’s Write from the Start, a blog sharing the roller coaster ride of this renewing writer’s feelings and actual experiences, began March 2017. That January, I began with a two-sentence contribution to a local Writing Group. I am now a Guest Columnist for a local paper and have contributed to small and online magazines. My comments for new and renewing writers? Start by starting. Join a writing group. You are unique but not alone. Once you start work, you will not be in Kansas anymore.

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Three Quarters of the Way Through a New Article

When I was a young teenager (bear with me), I loved to watch professional wrestling. The names were Lou Thesz and Dick the Bruiser and the Sheik and Larry Chene and Happy Farmer Humphrey. So, if you're thinking Hulk Hogan or Ice Cold Somebody-or-Other, you need to re-calibrate.

In any case, there was live wrestling in my home town of Sarnia and I have been welcomed as a Guest Columnist on more than one occasion by a local weekly newspaper (The Sarnia Journal) so I thought a neat little article about local wrestling back in the dark ages might be welcome.

Somehow that turned into a light piece of poetry. That didn't quite scan. And somehow, the more I wrote, the more my old wrestling flame wanted me to jam into this flimsy little vehicle I had begun to create.

So, I had to start again. I am now at an 845 word mix of prose and verse. My newspaper has a maximum of about 450 words. He's an understanding editor, and I am always happy to work with him, but not that understanding.

So, now I'm on Draft 7, taking that to my Writing Group, pretty sure it is too long regardless of an editor's limitations.

For this work along, in tandem with annoying my wife, also understanding but not limitless, if the final article is published somewhere (I have a half an idea, maybe) I will receive Zero Dollars and a limited number of readers - including my cousins.

I will, however, have added to my writing skills and satisfaction.

This is the writing world for most of us - although it's possible I'm a little more compulsive than most.

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About Me

Name: Bob's Write From The Start

Location: Sarnia, Ontario, Canada

Born, raised and living in Sarnia, Ontario, Bob Boulton began writing poetry, short stories and humorous articles for his high school newspaper in the period just after dinosaurs roamed the earth. His article on the mysteries of the Chess Club was particularly well-received. Bob’s excruciatingly naive teenage sonnet was published with positive mention in the high school yearbook. In University he wrote pretty much indecipherable essays on Existentialism and Phenomenology. Then, early in his working career, Bob also wrote short feature articles in the now-defunct (not his fault) Weston York Times. For this, he was paid $5.00 per article, which didn’t quite cover his transportation and parking costs. Then after a short break of thirty-five or forty years as an executive and leadership coach, Bob reactivated his passion for writing. The alternatives he considered were learning to yodel or trying to play the bagpipes. Bob’s loving and supportive family voted enthusiastically, and quickly, for writing.