PART II

Part II Start with what you know.

Start with what you know. How many of you have heard that old addage? It gets repeated over, and over, and over again. Why? Because it works. But what does it mean? It means, write about YOU. Your actions, your thoughts, your feelings, and concerns. Put em on paper and people will love it. Why? Because they're human too. And chances are your life is similar to theirs. That's when you've hit the jack pot, won the lottery. When it just so happens that, by chance, your life coincides with a million other people who are living just like you. And when you capture that life, and write about it elegantly and poetically, like all good writers can and should, that's when you've got something special. You become a spokesman for a generation.

What names come to mind when you hear that phrase? Bob Dylan? Franz Kafka? Miguel de Cervantes? Kafka spoke to millions in their new unease. Dylan defined a century. Cervantes ripped open the traditional literary style and made it his own. And what each one of these brilliant men had in common, and have in common because their memory will live on in literary history, through word of mouth tales and campfire songs, is one thing: HONESTY. Cervantes rode a horse. Kafka was a fucking freak. Dylan was a goddamn asshole. These were there gifts; writing came secondary. If you can understand that you are ready for the next part.