“Read and read and read and then read some more. And when you’ve read so much that you can’t read anymore, pick up a book, sit down, and read,” says Larry Sullivan, local historian and published short story author.

Storywriting is a beautiful art that can be intimidating to beginning authors. Sometimes, just writing the first word can be the hardest. “Start with ‘The,’” suggests Sullivan, who has been crafting stories for over 60 years. He also recommends “writing [down] your thoughts and ideas as quickly as you can, no matter how bad your writing seems at that moment.” He adds that “you can always edit a poorly written page, but not a blank one.”

Sullivan keeps a notebook filled with words and passages and uses these as inspiration for his own writing. Once you’ve read a lot, “windblown becomes dancing, odd becomes magical, evening becomes twilight, [and] flowers become a ballet of wildflowers, etc. Words are fun, and very collectible,” says Sullivan. If you read and assimilate beautiful words and phrases, you won’t need a thesaurus, and your writing will naturally flow.

It’s also important to keep in mind that your writing won’t be perfect on the first draft. “Don’t aim for good writing right off,” says Sullivan. “When you come back to it in a few days, you can then start to make changes and flesh out your story.”

But there’s more to a story than the actual writing: the background, or the author’s environment, is equally important. It’s “the story around the story,” says Sullivan, and “it educates and brings readers in and helps make them part of the story.” He shares this recollection: “A lady… once told me, ‘As I read your story, I felt like I was writing it along with you.’ From her perspective, the backstory helped make [her] the co-author.” This feeling of communal ownership will help draw your readers in and make them feel like part of your tale.

Writing is a truly wonderful process, and the most critical part is that you enjoy the process, no matter how ‘good’ your final product is. “I write for myself and share my writing with friends,” says Sullivan.  “It’s like a meal for me. If a day passes when I can’t sit at my laptop and create something – even a paragraph or a short poem – I get hungry and grumpy.”