Ask the Author: Virginia Brackett
Answered Questions (3)
Virginia Brackett
In my most recent book, "In the Company of Patriots," I write about the long-term effect on my family of the death of my father while serving in Korea. I obviously knew about that occurrence for decades, but I didn't decide to write about it until I was in my fifties. My idea was to help myself to come to terms with a life from which my father was missing, while I chronicled an important history for my family. However, when I began to hear from so many generous veterans who had served with my father or who sent stories of their own service, I knew their voices had to celebrated. It was that correspondence that convinced me that the project deserved publication. I hope others will agree!
Virginia Brackett
The BEST thing writers can do to help improve their own work is first, to read, second to read, and third to . . . read. The object is not to imitate others, although that is a time-accepted tradition that may give your first, non-publishable work a boost. Rather, you will learn skillful writing through reading simply by osmosis. That's a fancy term from my long-ago science career where the definition involves permeable membranes, solutions, solvents - but forget that stuff. For a writer's purposes, osmosis can be understood as your gradual absorption and processing of the positive writing techniques of others, which you will shape to your best needs. Trust me - it's a thing.
Virginia Brackett
The best thing about being a writer, y'all, is the ability to enter another world and then muck about to change it as you will! That's for fiction, of course. When I write nonfiction, I find very satisfying the time spent in research and preparation to deliver not merely facts, but a satisfying and appealing story based on those facts.
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