Looking for more from Sean McLachlan? He also hangs out on the Midlist Writer blog, where he talks about writing, adventure travel, caving, and everything else he gets up to. He also reproduces all the posts from Civil War Horror, so drop on by!

Monday, February 13, 2012

Origins blogfest: How I started writing


Today I'm participating in the Origins blogfest, where we all discuss how we started writing.

I actually don't remember when I started. The first short story I remember writing was when I lost my first baby tooth. To honor the occasion I wrote a story called The Ghost with One Tooth, complete with illustration! That story is at the bottom of a Toronto landfill now. Oh well.

As a kid I was more of a cartoonist than a short story writer. I did cartoons about time travel, a car race around the world, and a revolution where kids overthrow the adults and take over the world. Ah, every child's dream! My drawings were never very good and the cartoons got more and more text driven, with the words gradually edging out the illustrations. The same thing happened to the famous comic book writer Harvey Pekar of American Splendor fame. I never met him, but I'm in a writers group with Lance Tooks, one of his illustrators.

From about age 12 until my late twenties I stopped writing. I was briefly involved in the zine boom of the late Nineties, writing and publishing a zine called Ichthyoelectroanalgesia about archaeology and travel. I also had stuff published in other zines.

I didn't consider writing as a career until after I got my Masters in archaeology and had worked for a while in the field. It was then I realized that academia wasn't for me and got a second Masters at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. After a brief stint at the New Delhi bureau of Reuters and a couple of small newspapers, I went freelance. Two guidebooks, seven history books, a novel, and a short story collection later, I'm still loving it!

19 comments:

  1. Good for you, going into writing as a career! I never had the guts when I was younger, and even now, with my husband making good money, I can't walk away from a 23 year teaching salary.

    Although it's getting more and more tempting every year.

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  2. What an incredible progression. Cool to get to know you better, Sean.

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  3. wish you had that original work! what a great memory to share w/your kids!
    glad you're writing what you know =)
    great beginning!

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  4. I started much the same! Really admire that you do it full time now.

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  5. I was recently reminded of that early tale because my son just lost his first baby tooth!

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  6. I love the name of your first short story! I could totally see that as a children's book!

    It's awesome that your living the dream now! Thank you for sharing your ORIGIN with us today! :)

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  7. Hi Sean!

    I'm dropping by from the origins blogfest. I love The Ghost with One Tooth! What a catchy title!

    Your newest follower,
    Nutschell
    www.thewritingnut.com

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  8. Interesting journey. I love history, especially archeology. My brother researches the Civil War a lot, his pet historic topic.

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    1. Tell your brother about this blog! I focus on the Trans-Mississippi theater, which gets overlooked in a lot of Civil War histories. After the fall of Vicksburg in 1863, the Confederacy west of the Mississippi was virtually cut off from the Confederacy in the east, and the war in the west basically became a separate struggle.

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  9. Seems you started early and gradually moved on to what you really wanted to do.

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    1. Hi! I couldn't find where to comment on your Origins story. I loved the stripped covers anecdote, "stripped" in more ways than one I bet!

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  10. Your another archeology major who is also a writer! One of my very best friends does the same thing. lol. Great story!

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    1. Check out fantasy and mystery author A.J. Walker's blog, genreauthor.blogspot.com He focuses on archaeology, especially medieval archaeology.

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  11. I envy you your personal history with writing. I only discovered writing 2 years ago. It's nice to meet you. I'm a new follower via the Origins bloghop.

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  12. Sounds like you got the bug eventually. Awesome.

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  13. Very cool! I love archaeology. There are few things more fun than getting downa nd dirty searching for artifacts. Keep those books coming! :)

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  14. What an awe-inspiring story. Archaeology never interested me, though. All that dirt ... ew! But, I, too, lost all of my works in the Civil War, divorce and custody battle, that is. LOL It's been 25 years now and I'm almost over it ... LOL

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  15. So cool, Sean! It appears you had an incredibly active imagination! LOVE your 'Ghost with One Tooth' beginnings.

    My step-dad is a Civil War buff. He was once very active in reenactments here in Missouri (Union soldier) and has given numerous talks over the years to local schools, as well as the local historical society. He'll love this blog, I'm sure. I'll be sure to send a link today.

    I think it's cool how your Origin evolved! Good to *meet* you here in the Fest!

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    1. If he ever wants to do a guest post about reenacting, I'd love to have him on here!

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