by Ramona DeFelice Long
Crime writers know that any time a door opens, a character is compelled to walk through it. What’s on the other side can be bloody or wonderful, or bloody wonderful, but in a novel, a door opens for a reason. A character learns an important truth or an exciting event happens; otherwise, why was the door opened?
The same might be said for real life, or an artist’s career. A few months ago, Jim Jackson contacted me with a question: Was I interested in joining the blogging team at Writers Who Kill?
It was an open door, and I walked through it without hesitation. I had a good time posting on Fridays, offering some (hopefully) useful writing ideas using trains and highlighters, and giving some (hopefully) perceptive looks into how an editor works. I was glad I walked through the open door because I learned some important truths about writing from Jim, Pauline and Elaine, and from the revolving door of Wednesday guests.
But in crime novels, a character may walk through many different doors as the plot moves forward, learning something at each place. Sometimes, or eventually, the character passes through a place and moves on, and another character follows through the door left open.
There’s also the case, both in fiction and in real life, when many doors open at once. Right now, I have a lot of open doors, so I am going to move on through WWK and allow another writer to walk through the door behind me and take over the Friday postings. Maybe there will be more trains and highlighters, or maybe not, but each day at WWK allows the writers to share an important truth or exciting event or something else worth reading.
So I am moving on with a fond farewell and many thanks to Jim, Pauline, Elaine and the Wednesday guests for inviting me to hang around and post a while. Just like a character in a crime novel, I’m compelled to keep reading the weekday offerings here at WWK and hope that many readers feel the same and follow.
Best of luck to all who read, post and comment here. Happy writing!
Ramona
Ramona,
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great posts. I don't think I can look at colored highlighters without thinking about coloring my first five pages and the revelations revealed.
Best of luck in your endeavors.
~ Jim
We will miss your posts. Having an editor join us here at WWK was instructional and insightful. Thanks, and happy trails in the future.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss your posts. It was instructive having an editor as a blog member. You have a unique perspective on writing and writers. Good luck in future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for the nice words, WWK team, and right back atcha!
ReplyDeleteI will remain a loyal reader and commenter.
Ramona, I've only recently found you, so I'll miss your ideas and posts. Hope I can find you elsewhere as you keep on walking through those doors. But I'll look forward to seeing someone else walk through the door here too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you'll be missed here! At least by me, Ramona. Can't wait to see who your replacement is. This is a great blog.
ReplyDeleteEllis and Kaye, thanks for the nice words! I predict you will not be disappointed by the next WWK-er.
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