Writing as an Atypical Writer

Writing as an Atypical Writer August 24, 2019

I’m an atypical novelist and what I write is equally unusual.

Writers should read. And I do. A lot.
And writers should write. And I do. A lot.
My first book was a collective biography history book for 12-year-olds. I read about the founding fathers, researching the book.
My second book was a biography about Wilbur and Orville Wright, and I read nearly everything written by or about them.
When I earned my masters degree, I wrote research papers and read a lot.
As a pastor, I researched and wrote sermons.
I write ads, brochures, news releases, and all sorts of other things at my day job.
I’ve made a career slapping words together, some more successfully than others.
So moving into novels was a slow, long transition.
I began my first novel nearly 25 years ago.
Faith, Hope and Baseball, will be published in 2020. The thing is, I don’t read a lot of novels. I mostly read mysteries, or anything written by Walter Mosley.
I don’t read a novel a year. I don’t like most bestselling authors. I have no clue of the current publishing trends.
Because I’m not like most novelists, my novel isn’t like most novels, as far as I can tell. For example, the structure isn’t linear, while the story is rather traditional.
When the editor began reading it, she wrote, “I can already tell this is going to be a beautiful story. I love the Americana feel it has so far.”
My first novel is with the publisher and I’m 50,000 words into the next novel. I have five more novels outlined.
While I may be atypical, I am well on my way to being a novelist.

Whatever you’re doing — keep going. Don’t give up. Stay atypical, do your own thing, and keep going.

 

About Jim Meisner Jr.
Jim's debut novel, Faith, Hope and Baseball, will be published in the summer 2020. You can read more about the author here.

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