The day before my fifty-fifth birthday, still doubting my ability to write a book, I finally gave myself permission to become a writer . . . Sitting at Sydney airport, waiting to return to my home in the USA, I was reading a book on, ‘how to write a biography’, for the planned Deborah Couples Biography. I began to read . . .

“What does it take to be a good, creative, writer? It takes a Passion for People.

Usually, when people are discussing articles, essays, or non-fiction books, they use words such as INTERESTING, ACURATE, perhaps even FASCINATING.

PASSION and INTIMACY are not words that are often attached to non-fiction; they sound too spontaneous, emotional and imprecise.

But passion is what is required of a creative writer if he or she is to be successful: A passion for the written word; a passion for the search and discovery of knowledge; and a passion for involvement-observing both directly and clandestinely in order to understand intimately how things in this world work.”

Reading those words quickly brought a tear to my eyes and a lump to my throat . . . then, I turned to the back of the book, and read . . .

Ernest Hemingway never even attended a university. After graduating high school, he became an ambulance driver for the Italian army in World War 1 and observed combat firsthand. He was seriously wounded in the process, and that experience led to some of his finest work.

So, whether you choose writing programs, other majors, or the College of Hard Knocks, the proof of your work is not measured by a degree you receive on paper, but rather by the images you create and the ideas you communicate on paper…

No matter how and where you expect to go in the future, being able to write will be a considerable advantage. The experience gained in learning to deal with people and adjusting to other ways of life - a primary challenge in an immersion - will be equally valuable.

Having had no formal education, reading those words that day, commenced my journey to becoming a writer!

So remember, “If I can do it so can YOU!”

Enjoy my short stories and interviews!

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