Virginia Allain

This is an interesting exercise, to analyze why and how I write. I've kept a journal since my early college years in 1969. Trying to cram a day’s happenings into one page has taught me to write concisely. It also creates a need within me to fill empty pages with words. My mother finds joy in writing and that inspires my sisters and nieces to write as well. I think there’s a bit of Irish storyteller running through the family. We're all great appreciators of the written word, as the whole family, including my dad and brother, read for pleasure daily.

In the last ten years of my library career, I wrote grants for the library that I managed. That forced me to focus on persuasive writing. I found it rewarding as my first grant application won $57,000 for the library. My peak year of grant writing brought in over $400,000 with five successful grant applications. It’s not the same as writing a best selling novel, but there’s a lot of satisfaction in using words to create a vision. If I could convey that vision to the grant funders, then the proposed project received money and could become a real project. I showed me the power of words.

During that same time, I wrote weekly library columns for the local paper. As the Tuesday 2:00 PM deadline approached, I learned to get the words on paper. I knew the constant writing was honing my writing skills when library patrons told me they clipped my columns to save.

Writing publicity pieces, in addition to the weekly column, gave me experience not only in trying to make the mundane interesting, but also how to tailor the story to create a certain feeling in the reader. It was flattering when the newspaper’s editor asked me where I'd studied journalism. I felt silly telling him my only journalism experience was as the 4-H club reporter at age 12 or so.

Actually deadlines work well for me, as I can procrastinate indefinitely. Fear that the writing won't be adequate can be paralyzing, even when numerous topics float through my mind crying out to get written. Now that I'm retired, Our Echo has been an excellent forum inciting me to write. I appreciate the encouraging comments from readers and the numbers of viewings and rankings appeals to my competitive side.

Reading voraciously as a child and young adult was a good background for writing. College years as an English major and 30 years as a librarian exposed me to a greater range of writers. Now in retirement, I again have the time to read and read. My written vocabulary far exceeds my spoken one. Who knows how many years ago and how many books ago a word was discovered and stashed away in my brain for later retrieval.

Story ID:	1928
Written by:	OurEcho Admin (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Story type:	In The Spotlight
Location:	Poinciana FL USA
Year:	2007
Person:	Virginia Allain