I have been fortunate to write six articles for this magazine, and I am now looking for another topic that meets my personal criteria for an interesting story. As I do so, I have to ask: "What makes me do this?" Retirement has given me time, and I have gathered life experience along the way, which allow me to research and write. Interesting relatives, about whom I had intimate knowledge, also gave me a start. I no longer need the feeling of personal accomplishment, so there must be much more to it. I now realize that it is the discovery of exhilarating "Aha!!" moments—finding unknown facts, or putting known facts in proper context—that allows everything to fall into place, and triggers the need to share them with readers.
History should never be written as a series of dry, declaratory sentences. There is a motivational flow to the lives of successful persons, and the writer needs to uncover it. The "why" and the "how" are just as important as the "what", "when" and "where," if not more so. I am always amazed by the many surprises that research can turn up, which are fun and interesting to learn. Some of those will be true "Aha!!" moments; it never fails to happen. At that point, the storyline comes into sharp focus, and the person becomes very alive and real. The writer can almost become one with that person, feeling vicariously what must have been felt at that time. Sharing that feeling with readers then becomes easy.
There is also the creativity of writing that is joyful. The first paragraph always needs to be a teaser for what is to come, and the concluding paragraph must contain a comprehensive (and often uplifting) summary of the article, but the middle paragraphs allow for great creativity in telling the story. Once you do it, you can never walk away from it!
In addition to the joy of writing a story, working with Western New York Heritage has been a pure pleasure. Following submission of a final text and visuals, their skilled, thoughtful and cautious editors take the time to read and fully understand your story, with all its attendant nuances. If there is an interesting story, they will develop it. For me, text editing was minimal, but their work on selection and placement of visuals greatly benefited my stories. The end results have been attractive, professional treatments that have combined my passion for the material with their editorial and production skills. Seeing the articles in print has been a rewarding and wonderful experience. Try it!
