Linda Nelson

Image courtesy of creative commonsBy: Ray MacLean – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

Writing is an expression, and I express myself much more freely in writing than oral. I like stories, and love to tell them. I don’t write to make money. Nor do I expect to make a lot of money. Things happen, and I am inspired by day to day life.

I could overhear a conversation that makes me think of a similar incident. It may not have happened to me, but maybe to someone else. It could spark a warning that I need to convey to those who might only hear it in the form of a story. As in “Road Salt”, four teens take a road trip while stealing cars. One of the teens is an addict that uses the substance called Bath Salts. It has a devastating effect on the other three teens. Thankfully the drug isn’t as widely used now a day, but I wrote the story when there was a cry to the public to become knowledgeable of its devastating effects on the families, friends and the individuals that were using the substance.

“Aaron and Keja came about from my love of animals. I kept thinking of what my dog and cat would say if they happened to hold a conversation. Fantasy is one of my favorite genres to read, so naturally, it would become one of my favorite to write. I was a JRR Tolkien fan while in high school. When I started my Orgarlan series, I wanted to write a fantasy series that was different from the usual high-fantasy we have come to know. So I made the Orcs and Goblins the good guys, the humans minorities, and the elves to be the enemy.

Perspectives are always subject to change.

The next book, “Witch Book”, was kind of a fluke. I wanted to attempt some more poetry while writing fiction, which I did as a spell. I fell in love with the story and wrote the whole thing in ninety days.

Yes, I know, I need to expand the series. But I became involved in Romance Writers of America, so the fantasy series took a temporary back seat while I learned to write a new genre. My next goal is to advance my writing by integrating romance into fantasy and adventures.

My writing has slowed down; it is only a temporary situation. Currently, I am attending school and will return to writing when I am done with my degree. Though, now that I don’t have the time to write, I want to write. It will be a challenge to schedule writing time in the coming months, but I may do so anyway.

You can’t stop the muse when it wants to let loose.

Now that I’m at the beginning of my second term of online courses I must say that I have mixed feelings about the process.

I like them!

You do have to be self-sufficient when it comes to learning. Discipline is a must. The deadlines must be met. You are given the essential tools for survival. That would be the textbooks.

One doesn’t need to be at a complete loss. Make sure you know how to use the internet to research what you need to know, and read the textbook.

I know, you don’t like to read the book. Well, read it anyways. You won’t be sitting in class listening to your professor go on and on with a lecture. Your lecture, if you are lucky will be a PowerPoint of about ten slides. That’s it.

You will have to go online and research if you need to know more to understand your assignments or discussions.

The tests are open book. They are still hard regardless.

I also like the time I’ve saved in not having to travel across the state to sit in a classroom. It would be an hour drive one way for me. That would be two hours spent on the road when I could be reading that textbook instead.

What I don’t like…

There isn’t much I don’t like about the type of course study. I have the discipline for doing what I need to do when I need to do it. Especially, when I set my mind to doing something that I want to do passionately.

I did teach myself to self-publish, didn’t I?

When I’m done with school, there will be loads of stories to come. Which leads me to the other thing I don’t like. That would be not having enough time to write stories. I have all these new ideas popping into my head that I keep jotting down in a journal I keep at my desk. I read something in one of my textbooks, and a light comes on, jot that one down.

Seriously, if you want to return to school, then do it!

Online courses need discipline and self-sufficiency.

There are hybrid courses too. You do some of the work online and the rest in the classroom.

Or, there is old school, 100% classroom.