Val DeWitt

I was one of those obnoxious little kids who read everything — cereal boxes, road signs, business banners, billboards, license plates, newspapers, junk mail and magazines. It went beyond knowing my ABCs. I just wanted to know everything.

When I read, every word painted a picture in my mind. Beyond sentences and paragraphs on a page, it was all about visual connection. I could be there, go there. Dream and imagine. Create visions in my head. Go beyond what was given me.

Then one day I put my own words on paper. Eureka! A whole new world opened up right in front of me.

You don’t have to be “A Writer” to write. The trick is to forget you are writing. Jot down your thoughts. Then refine them. Again and again. For some, writing is so painful that every word is stilted. Others like words so much that they fill every sentence with all the descriptive words they know. By the time you are done reading — assuming you can make it all the way through — you have no idea what happened.

You can lead your audience wherever you want to take them. Just keep your writing as clear and simple as possible. Forget the rules you learned in school. “Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish,” wrote John Jakes.

Trust the pictures in your head.

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Do you have a story to tell? A book to write? A product to sell? A service to promote? I can help! Call me.