There is no try.

cj Sez: I’ve been saying for a long time, way too long atime, that I’m trying to learn how to write an interesting mystery or I’mtrying to learn how to write a YA story. In fact, I said it just the other day.Then I found this meme in my archives:

  It reminded me that I know better. And have done better. If I“really’ want to learn how to do something, I have to set an achievable goaland do what’s necessary to reach it.
  I once had a wild hair thought to challenge my staidexistence and made a goal to go white-water rafting. When I was 50, I took sixweeks of swimming lessons and then spent 5-1/2 days with 12 strangers on anOutward Bound white-water rafting trip on the undammed Yampa River flowing betweenColorado and Utah. I had a great adventure (parts of which are incorporatedinto my second novel, DEATH ON THE YAMPA),made some interesting friends, and still don’t know how to swim.
  When I first wanted to learn how to write novels,I enrolled in a creative writing class at a local community college. I flew toSan Francisco and spent three days immersed in Robert McKee’s STORYscreenwriting workshop. I grabbed a bunch of how-to books. I read novels andread some more.
  Over time, I discovered I was drawn to the books of RobertB. Parker, Elmore Leonard, John Grisham, James Lee Burke, Robert Ludlum’sBourne series. You know the kind, heavy on the action and adventure with asmattering of sex. When I relocated to Mobile, I took a continuing educationclass at the University of South Alabama, wrote seven paragraphs based on aprompt from the instructor, and, with a three- or four-line positive response written on the paper,decided I was ready to write.
  BEEP, BEEP: Writing in a vacuum doesn’t work. I thought mypremise was wonderful, the words and structure perfect. I wrote crap. There wasno brilliant beginning, middle, or end. There was only a quasi-beginning, asagging middle, and an unsatisfying end. And I couldn’t even edit out all thepunctuation errors because I would read right past them.
So, I joined writers’ organizations and a couple ofcritique groups in order to get the kind of varied writer/reader responses I wouldget should my novel be on a library shelf. I went to conferences, writerretreats, and workshops. My first short story was published in a literary anthologyin 2008, my first suspense novel in 2013. At first, my stories and novels were traditionallypublished but understanding that the publication world is a fickle place, I tookan intensive class in self-publishing, got my rights back (from Simon & Schuster),amended my novels enough to warrant renaming them, and then self-published. Andyou know what? It felt good. I still submit my short stories for consideration insmall-press anthologies.
  There is a song lyric that, paraphrased, tells me I canspend my days living a dream or spend my days trying not to die. I don’t seeany hope or laughter in the latter. The Yoda meme reminds me that I must ownmy dream. I will either do or do not.     I will either learn how to write a mystery or set a new goal—hopefully an achievableone. 
  Today’s lesson: Set a goal. Put pen to paper or fingers tokeyboard and write it down. You might be surprised at how far seeing it inwriting will take you.
  Okay, I’ll climb off the soap box, but think about it readeror author: What’s your goal? 
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  Okay, that’s it fortoday. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raisingprayers for a happy and safe Labor Day celebration for you and yours.
cj
Now some words from my sponsors:
  Summer is windingdown, kids are back in school, and there is some available downtime. Having abook to read is the perfect relaxing entertainment for those moments. THEDAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are available on Amazon or through yourfavorite e-Tailer and bookstore. Got a library card? You can read the ebooksfree from Hoopla.

  Nota bene: AngelaTrigg, the RITA Award-winning author and owner of The Haunted Book Shop has afew signed copies of my paperback books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
And P.S.: Pop on over to my Amazon Central Author Page forlinks to anthologies in which I have a short story.
➜ Follow me on        ➜ Amazon:    AmazonCentral Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6