Summary

Margie Willis, a seasoned writer with a background in both technical and creative writing, reflects on her growth as a writer and the impending changes in her life as she transitions from a rustic, wilderness existence to a more civilized setting, which she anticipates will inspire new stories and perspectives.

Abstract

Margie Willis has been a writer on Medium since June 2021 and is preparing to revise her About Me section as she transitions from living in a secluded wilderness to a golf course community. This life change marks the end of her "rustic stories" phase and the beginning of exploring new narratives. Margie values spontaneity and authentic life experiences, which she believes are crucial for a writer's development. She acknowledges the challenge and inspiration she has found on Medium, where the high caliber of writing has pushed her to improve her craft and become more vulnerable and authentic in her work. Margie emphasizes the importance of diversity in writing and reading, and she strives to present clear scenarios without the influence of personal opinions or judgments. She also curates a weekly list, Pure Awesomeness List (PAL), to highlight exceptional writing from newcomers, demonstrating her commitment to supporting emerging writers while also critiquing Medium's tendency to feature the same popular authors repeatedly.

Opinions

Margie feels her initial About Me no longer represents her, as she has grown significantly since joining Medium.
She believes that writers should seek out fresh, authentic experiences to enrich their storytelling.
Margie recognizes Medium as a catalyst for a significant paradigm shift in her writing, challenging her to elevate her game due to the abundance of skilled writers on the platform.
She criticizes her previous habit of posting first-draft writing without proper editing, which was common on other platforms where she was considered a top writer.
Margie values the lessons learned from other Medium writers about vulnerability and authenticity in writing.
She is critical of the superficiality and trendiness of some writing on Medium, advocating for pieces that stimulate the mind and imagination.
Margie is committed to diversity in her writing and reading habits, forcing herself to engage with content that challenges her preconceived notions.
She maintains a pragmatic view of Medium's limitations, such as the dysfunctional home page listing function, and responds by creating her own curated list to showcase quality writing from newbies.
Despite some criticism, Margie is optimistic about the new ideas and material she will gather from her upcoming move to a more urban environment, which she expects to enrich her writing.

VERSION TWO

About Me — Margie Willis

as I prepare for re-entry . . .

I joined this website, June 2021, and the About Me I wrote feels off since I was clueless about this Medium scene, at first (as most writers are). I’ve been wanting to re-do that piece.

Now I have a solid reason: my life is about to change.

In my first About Me I strongly identified with my feral wilderness existence for the past eleven years, but I was evicted in an evil manner just now. So, I’m headed back to civilization, and living on a golf course will be a dramatic shift compared to my tumbledown shack in the sticks. I guess this is my sign that I’ve written all my rustic stories for now. Time to gain new perspectives so I can write some new flavors of stories.

Shaking out fresh stories: that’s what we writers do.

I have spent my life doing spontaneous stuff. I started riding my bicycle across the USA on the spur of the moment, with no planning. I would convince myself I’m furthering my writing journey by gaining authentic life experience. Not to say writers need to peddle their asses thousands of miles, but my firm belief: writers with an adventurous spirit will go out and harvest fresh stories.

When a friend suggested I join Medium last year, within days of reading the other writers here, I knew I was in for a paradigm shift. On other websites, I have been one of the top writers and I never bothered to edit my work.

I was the typical impatient jackrabbit who couldn’t wait to see my words posted, so I’d slap up that first-pass draft that comes bubbling out before we dig into what we’re really trying to say. That plain-Jane rough draft containing no wordplay, no manicuring, no thesaurus thumbing.

Despite my writing complacency I was better than most writers.

At Medium, there are TONS of better writers than me and I constantly need to up my game. After thirty-plus years of technical writing and ten-plus years of creative writing, joining Medium is the best thing that ever happened to shake up my writing. Sure, this website has all the requisite bullshit you will find anywhere in life, but do we want to go “waaa! waaa!” over petty stuff or do we want to become better writers? I daresay this is a great place to be, if you’re hungry for inspiration and willing to do the work.

To cause even a minor blip at Medium, I have had to work much harder as a writer than I did at anything in my 65 years. These other writers make me aware of what a lazy writer I’ve been. Resting on my laurels. Importantly, other writers here have shown me what it means to be vulnerable and authentic as a writer. I feel like a flippant funny girl next to half these writers.

Being here and reading others is teaching me about real life and feelings and stuff I never went near before, in thought or pen.

As a writer and reader, I try to be diverse. It’s important to me in all facets of life. I believe diversity is what makes the world go ‘round. I try different forms of poetry and stories and articles, always mixing it up. I force myself to read things I don’t agree with, or don’t like, so I can broaden my scope. I want to grow beyond my opinions and assumptions. The best writers do that.

The best writers present a crystal-clear scenario, without the cloud of opinion, judgment, assumption, labeling or stereotyping.

There are SO many ways all the different people of this world look at all the stuff of life, the stuff we writers want to write about. We need to constantly exercise our perspectives, lest we get stuck in the money/popularity grind that can’t see how boring those superficial trendy pieces are to anyone with a functioning mind and an imagination that craves stimulation.

I’m avid to shoutout newbies, but only the best writing in my PAL (Pure Awesomeness List) due out every Friday. I applaud publications that publish any newbie, good or not-quite-hot-yet, because we need this in our universe. Still, I pick the best newbies for PAL . . . since the home page listing function is dysfunctional . . . unless you like superficial trends and having most of the listings for the same tiny group of popular writers, over and over.

Ooops! There I go slamming Medium after I just griped about those who do. But I don’t care if home page listings are dysfunctional. I don’t complain, I jump in and offer my solution, which is my PAL every Friday. By the way, there are TONS of other excellent shoutouts and all are needed here, since there are so many diverse orbits.

Suffice to say, my next story is, as yet, unwritten.

And off I go to be re-civilized . . . leaving the harshness of wilderness living and entering the harshness of living amongst the overpopulated masses.

I’ve been out there once so far and it hurt my deepest being to see how many more miles of housing tracts have filled in all the open space in California in the eleven years since I was last out there. Seeing a massive wall of manmade stuff hurts my sensibilities, after seeing only natural sights all around me, constantly. The manmade stuff feels so harsh and heavy and cruel to this planet, knowing what we know about where climate change is headed. All that concrete feels so oppressive to me, after living in the wilderness for so long. That’s the part that’s really going to hurt at first.

But I’ll be harvesting tons of new ideas and material for stories and that’s all that matters to a writer.

Image by Darkmoon_Art from Pixabay . . . caption by Margie Willis