The five people who most influenced my writing

by Richard L. Weaver II

What most “wanna-be” writers do not realize is the amount of “alone time” necessary to do the required chore. I know, for example, my father-in-law retires to a bedroom on the lower floor of his house. He prefers no background sounds of any kind — total quiet — and, when she was alive, he had a wife who catered to his every need. She cooked all his meals, cleaned the house (he never lifted a finger), laundered his clothes, and was his friend and companion. (We didn’t realize how totally ignorant he was of al that she did until she died and left him bereft of any of these daily skills.) In this way, however, he could focus all his attention and concentration on the task of writing, and that is precisely what he did.

My father was a writer, and I have done a great deal of writing all my life. But I have never been like my father-in-law. I think I’ve been luckier in that I have a study where all family members are free to come and go as they please. They can break my concentration at will, and I have speakers that pipe in music from the living-room console, and I enjoy “easy listening” music on in the background when I write. (I don’t need total silence.) The importance of this will become known in a few moments.

You may think, because my father was a writer, that he was the first, major influence in my life with respect to my writing, but that is not true at any point. It was my mother who would read my papers, correct my grammar and spelling, and encourage me. She would often say to me, “This is very good writing. I hope you continue to have an interest in writing.” But she never thought I would be “a writer,” nor did she ever push me in this direction. She simply did not want me to be discouraged when I would make mistakes.

The second person who most influenced my writing was Mr. Granville, my advanced English teacher in high school. I don’t remember how I became a member of the “advanced English course,” but I have a suspicion that it was upon the recommendation of my regular English teacher whose name I do not remember. It was the assignments, the critiques, and the loving attention that Mr. Granville paid to me (and to my papers) that gave me the idea that I was not necessarily a “good” writer, but a competent one. He gave me the three Cs of confidence, courage, and conviction.

When I began college I was a pre-med major, but when I graduated from college as a speech major, I really didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. Thinking that I might teach speech at the high-school level (because I had a secondary teaching degree), I decided to make English my minor in case I would be teaching English courses along with speech. But, none of those English teachers stood out — most were graduate teaching assistants — and none offered additional inspiration or motivation.

It was after asking around (and with a topic on which to write a dissertation already in hand) that I selected Indiana University for my Ph.D. And, it was only because of one man, Dr. Robert Gunderson, the third person who most influenced my writing. Thinking that I could already write, Dr. Gunderson performed major re-constructive surgery on my thinking as well as on my approach to writing. Using Strunk and White’s Elements of Style, as my bible, I really learned how to write under Gunderson’s tutelage. He was a tough mentor, but I was a willing student, and the process took hold, and I have benefitted ever since.

The fourth person who most influenced my writing career was Mr. Howard Cotrell. As a member of the Instructional Media staff at Bowling Green State University, Cotrell sought and gained access to my basic speech-communication course lectures soon after I began teaching at BGSU. Then we began meeting one-a-week to discuss his observations, make changes in my approach, and solve the problems of the world! Now, it must be clear that his suggestions, during our early meetings, had more to do with my lecturing style and approach, and he can be credited with vast improvements that not only benefited me but, most importantly, benefited the thousands of students required to take my courses. He would sit in my lectures once every week and take thorough notes that he would later share with me.

How did this influence my writing? Weekly meetings with Cotrell continued for over 20 years, and we were soon discussing possibilities for publication. He would come to the meetings full of ideas, and we would work together developing outlines, approaches, and solutions that I would put together then submit to him for comment and further suggestions. We co-authored close to thirty academic articles, and there is no doubt about how fortunate I was to have Cotrell ask me to visit my classes, pursue weekly meetings with me, and allow me access to his active and vibrant brain.

Andrea, my wife, is the fifth person who has most influenced my writing. Now, she may not admit her influence, nor has it been the same as those previously mentioned in this essay. Her influence — along with all four of my children, I might add — has been in providing a supportive and protected environment for writing.

As I said in the opening to this essay, most “wanna-be” writers are unaware of the amount of “alone time” necessary for writing. And considering the fact that I have been actively involved in writing during the entire time my four (now adult) children were at home, they learned what a writer’s life was like, and they respected what I did and the time I needed to do it; however, they always knew they could interrupt, sit on my knee, share their thoughts, and take any time they needed from my writing obligations.

I think I was fortunate (once again) that my wife came from a family with a father who was a writer. She knew from the outset what was required. The circumstances varied (from those set by her own father) in very minor ways. Alone time is necessary for concentration, it is true. But, alone time is required, too, for the completion of a great number of ancillary (but required) tasks that go along with writing. As a textbook author, there are so many mundane, routine, boring chores that accompany it such as compiling indexes, bibliographies, student and teacher manuals, vocabulary lists, and chapter objectives and questions — the list can go on and on — that most people seldom think about. Even re-reading, honing, and polishing already written material can become tedious. For a writer, there is so much that is not writing, that one must brace himself or herself from tiresome, repetitious, tedious, and monotonous chores from which any distraction can provide a joyful lure.

I have chosen this Thanksgiving essay to give thanks to the five people who have most influenced my writing. If it wasn’t for my mother, Mr. Granville, Dr. Gunderson, Mr. Cotrell, and my wife, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here at this computer doing what I am so enjoying doing right at this moment! Thanks folks! You cannot begin to know the gratitude I have.
-----
Carol Stanley has a delightful, short, yet pithy essay at ArticlesBase called “Gratitude and how it affects our lives,” that might appear as the stimulus for my essay, but it wasn’t. I found it after the essay was complete, but the need for giving thanks is well supported, and Stanley’s essay is worth a read. She finishes her essay with this thought: “Give thanks often, and this will allow your mind to be free for wonderful things to happen.”

At gems4friends.com, the author of the essay, “10 Steps to Getting What YOU Want: Creating YOUR Reality — Step 9: Gratitude, Acceptance and Moving On,” offers readers four suggestions, 1) open your heart, 2) thank those who have helped you, 3) exercise to feel gratitude, and 4) Speak Positively With The Gratitude Attitude. The author says, “Praising and being thankful opens the door to even more. Complaining closes that same door. Hence, speak positively and lovingly.”
-----
Copyright November, 2009 - And Then Some Publishing L.L.C.