Writing Biography

A Brief Writing History.

Word Count: 490

         Hello, fellow New Horizons students. I'm an obedient pupil, and try to follow the instructions of our esteemed instructor: therefore, I composed the following brief introduction and writing history.
         My life began in Hollywood, California as Stephan, since changed to Stefan (my parents grew tired of people calling me Steven). Except for a couple of years in northern England , I lived my life in the Los Angeles area. Attending California State University to obtain my education, I eventually became a Structural Engineer: that is still my field of endeavor.
         After twenty-five years, I found running the business, life in general, and the responsibilities of a wife and five children—overwhelming. At forty-five, after loving but being annoyed by the nonsensical magic system in Harry Potter, I decided to start writing as a form of self therapy. Each day at lunch, I would instruct my staff to allow no interruptions, not even admit I was in the office, thus grabbing an hour of private writing time. For the next fifteen years I followed this therapeutic formula. The result was mental health, and manuscripts for five novels never intended for publication.
         To avoid letting my children make my mistake of waiting until older to begin writing, as each turned fourteen or so, I convinced them to join me in writing. Four of the five stuck to it, and from different places in the country, we Skype a family writer's group every week.
         My oldest child, though educated in computer engineering, writes for his living. On one occasion he asked, "Dad, why only write for sanity leaving your novels to gather dust in some forgotten corner? Write one for our writer's group and get it published. I know you can do it—I did."
         The challenge was accepted and I began a new science fiction novel; departing from the purely fantasy genre of my past. Having read more than a thousand books in my lifetime, I knew my prose was not up to publishing quality. Brandon Sanderson's creative writing university classes online started improving my writing and a few months later, I joined Writing.Com.
         Here at WdC, I received reviews that were helpful and informative. My writing quality has steadily improved, but I became frustrated at having forgotten many grammar rules learned as a child. I was... adequate, able to produce dozens of reviews in the past nine months because reviews are more than copy editing, that wasn't enough. On the advice of a past student of Punctuation Inc., I registered, starting my New Horizons' studies. The first course was thrilling, educational and fun, but I need more. To be truly happy and effective as a writer and reviewer, learning and growing must continue always.
         Here in Comma Sense, I hope to improve my writing and associate with others serious about learning. Maybe I'll even have some more fun.

Stefan, CanImagine

To benefit as I, see "Invalid Item"