THE TRADESMAN

Volume 10 No. 1

-- A NEWSPAPER by and for DIMAN STUDENTS --

March, 2006

A Day in the Life of a Budding Writer

By Daniel Medeiros
Tradesman Staff

Mr. Wagner asked me to write a humorous article about what it's like to be a budding short story writer, my first thought was, "I'm a short story writer?" But the more I thought about it, I realized I could just be that. A day as a short story writer would be an idealistic thing to talk about, so I will try my best to describe a day in writing a solid piece of writing. When I write I first think of characters, a setting, and a basic story line. One secret of mine is that I never go into great detail, in the story line; I like to unravel the story as I go. I think about what the reader would expect or not expect. Most of my stories change as I go with them; the story line gets more serious or comical. I first jot down the basics of what I'm going to write and let my imagination take me into my own world of creation.

I know it sounds odd and it is very hard to describe, but if you've ever written something that you were proud of, you must have a general idea of what I'm talking about. I'm really not sure how to make this article amusing when just reading this must be putting you to sleep. People will say that writers aren't funny, and I don't make many jokes so I suppose they're correct.

In Mr. Wagner's English class, I have written a few short stories and am now trying my best on crafting a book. It still doesn't have a name, but the story line is coming along great. I won't go into great detail because I know it will put you to sleep, even though you already may be. My short stories differ greatly and all have their own special ending. One of them is "On the Red Baron," which is about a slave on a boat called the Red Baron. Another (without a name) is about a boy named Connor and how he became a member of the James-Younger gang.

These are only two of the few I have written. I'm still not sure if I am a true short story writer, but I will continue to write stories because I enjoy the reactions (good or bad) of the readers. Another secret I have is to always leave a good cliffhanger at the end of a story or chapter. So, I will end this article here only because I don't have much else to write. I hope you had a good dream, (if you fell asleep). If you didn't then I hope you enjoyed this. If not, well maybe you should try reading one of my stories.

If you would like to, find me if you know me, or ask someone that knows me. I'll be more than happy to let you read it.

Dan Medeiros is a junior in the Drafting shop