In a former post, I expressed my feelings about the eternal nature of study for an aspiring reality fiction writer such as myself. In my pursuit of books I consider essential to my continuing education, I have had the good fortune to acquire a book entitled, “The Magic of Fiction,” by Beth Hill. Beth is a free-lance fiction editor, dedicated to helping writers improve their craft. She recently offered a free copy of her book to members of her blog (The Editor’s Blog).

I’ve only just begun my study of her book, but I feel edified already. Though “self-editing” scares me to death, I believe her advice will lead me to make decisions, and take action that will be in the best interest of my career as a fiction writer. For the moment, I really don’t trust myself to self-edit. I believe I’m far too passionate about my work to be sufficiently critical. At this moment, I feel certain I will be seeking professional editing services. But that’s one of the reasons I feel her book is so important to writers like myself. Notwithstanding my skepticism about self-editing, she offers solid and useful advice, worthy of serious consideration.

For my friends who are writers themselves, I recommend Beth’s book as a study guide. If you study it yourself, please let me know what you think of it.

Certainly, writing is about words: artfully arranged; interestingly choreographed; painting a verbal picture that evokes emotion. I’ve seen it suggested that a writer should add 1,500 to 3,000 words to his / her manuscript each day. That’s a lot of words! And, no fair including the stuff written on Facebook or the blog. It’s good to have goals, and, I suppose it’s good also to measure creative flow with a virtual yardstick. I’ve learned that some writers feel slothful if they’ve penned less than 5,000 words in a day. Who are these people? Still, something to consider, I suppose.

These days, my life as a creative writer is a “learn-as-you-earn” experience. Some part of every day is spent reading books like, Strunk & White’s, “The Elements of Style.” Susan Thurman’s, “The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need.” And, “Webster’s New World English Grammar Handbook” There are many other books o’ learnin’ on my educational / reference book shelf, but I don’t want to bore you with an endless list.

Below my educational / reference book shelf is my literary book shelf. Now there’s a heavily-laden plank of wood! I consider every one of those literary works an important facet of my education. So, even at the age of 68, I’m still pumpin’ those cerebral neurons over the mental exercise yard. I guess you could say that I subscribe to the concept of “learnin’ is earnin’.”

My good friend, Courtney Alameda, buckled up and piloted through the task of earning a degree in the field of English Literature at BYU. My path of agony is less formal, but – I believe – just as arduous. It involves study of endless books written by folks having more expertise in the art of creative writing than I. Either way, I believe, the only pathway to success as an author / writer is by way of perpetual learning; whether home taught or at BYU. Having said that, can you guess what my next education pursuit will entail? Yep. BYU or bust. But I have to do the work at home and not on campus. We old folks require more naps between bouts of learning.