I have about 20 projects (books and articles) started or sketched out but not finished, which beggs the question, Why am I doing a second edition on anything? The answer is that I looked at it and saw that it needed it. It's like an old car. Either it looks good but doesn't work well, needing a tune up, or it runs well but doesn't look good, needing a paint job. In either case, it needed something, so it was either junk it or get it road ready, so I chose the latter. How many unfinished projects do you have waiting in the wings while you work on "the one"?

I started writing in the era of the fall of the Berlin wall. I did my Writing 101 term paper on the fall of the wall. That means I have been writing and learning to write for over 35 years. How and when did you get your start writing?

In case you haven't noticed, I am on fire. My icon now has a fire symbol next to it. It means I have made at least 10 posts or likes every day for the last 30 days. I hope I can keep it up. The thing that helped was joining other groups and being active in them. But I must give credit where credit is due. Part of my sucsess is due to those of you who have been participating and showing up to respond or like my posts. Thank you so much for being a part of "The Write Way" and for helping me reach this personal goal.

I look at it this way, almost anyone could write a good story and get it published, if they would apply themselves. The two biggest hurdles (and this applies to everyone) are, first of all, the one that has "I could never write a book" written across it. That is an outright falsehood. The second hurdle to get over is the author's overconfidence. The reader is a mountain in and of itself but the real obsticle is that the tunnel through to the reader is being blocked off. What do I mean? Just like my friend's friend, who wrote a terrible book that I could not even get through the first chapter. I offered to edit it for free but he never got back to me. He got in his own way by not putting his mind in the right place. He should have taken me up on the offer. I might have been able to guide him in the same direction as my other friend that I mentored, who went on to write two whole books as well as some short stories all on her own after I had coached her. I'm sure I wasn't the only help but she broke through that barrier and succeeded. Most authors think the world of themselves and therefore think that what they have done is the best it can be. Most stories need be salvaged from their first try and be made to outshine the original, so they can be enjoyed by more and more readers. I see that in my own work and that is why I am doing a second edition on my first two books. Then comes the hurdle of getting books into the hands of the readers. But that is a different place all together. Do you have a first draft yet?

I am happy to announce another member has joined our community. Please welcome Annika Royston and check out her bio on the like of her name. Annika Royston has some completed works and is interested in Technical and creative writing. She is curious about the community so please introduce yourselves. She is from Houston, TX.