I know. I wanted to type ‘minotaur’ there, too. Alas, the word I typed is ‘mentor.’
It’s not a word I like, actually. For many years, there were too many people wanting to “mentor” me on how to wear my clothes, cut my hair or act in front of adults. The military is that way. I wouldn’t have minded, but these people were doing the process in reverse. They were, without my permission or interest, choosing to “mentor” me about those things. And that’s not a mentor. That just someone who wants to tell you how it is and then act like a doting father when the whole thing is done. “Look how I fixed him.”
A mentor is someone you find — if you’re lucky. And I was lucky to find three people in my writing career who fit that description. Now, this doesn’t discount countless dozens of other people who have influenced me in one way or another, in both good times and bad. However, these three folks provided the catalyst, the fuel and the flame.
The first was a military supervisor. She ran the military office where I was first assigned. She also wrote nonfiction feature material exceptionally well. I was 19. I wanted to do that, too. So, mostly, I observed and then gleaned what I could from her. Eventually, I stole enough from her writing coupled with a foundation education to start to “get it.”
My second mentor happened along at about the same time. A great writer, he also helped me establish a tone for what I did write and helped mold my attitude toward writing. He helped me try new angles, words, sentence structure. He helped me set up my “style.”
The third mentor came by means of being a newspaper editor. He oversaw about two dozen different newspapers within one military command. He knew quality. He could also spot crap. He also made no bones about telling me when I had the former or the latter (usually, the latter). He made me, at every turn, consider flushing mediocrity out of every sentence on the page.
The mentorship of all three allowed me to eventually earn about 150 different writing awards at a number of levels, military and civilian. I wouldn’t keep this blog or write much of anything at all if those three hadn’t taken some interest in me and what I might do. I think about them almost every time I sit in front of a keyboard and start typing.
I coupled that mentorship and on-the-job training with incessant research and found literary models, too. Yes, I was a dictionary reader. Yes, I was a AP Style Guide reader. And yes, you’ll probably find inklings of Mike Royko, Mickey Spillaine, Michael Moorcock and others flashes of others throughout almost any bits of fiction and nonfiction I pen.
The value of the right mentor can be measured in a number of ways. However, it’s probably best found ow much excitement, passion and life you put into your writing and, in turn, how much excitement, passion and life you give to your readers. There’s also the argument that no one goes it alone, a point with that I completely agree.
So, who’s your mentor and why, and how does he or she help?
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Nice one Jason
Great topic, and something I’ve been thinking about lately. I don’t really have a hands-on mentor, but when I worked for the newspaper, my editor definitely helped me grow as a writer. She taught me how to write fast & ingrained AP style into my brain. Lately, I have peer mentors: Stacey has helped me soooo much with the book proposal, and Amy, Angie & Carole keep my wits sharp. A few years ago, I remember reading that every writer should have one author friend/influence above him or her on the success ladder, and one below. That way, you pass on what you learned, and you don’t get cocky, LOL.
I don’t have one yet… the closest is my piano teacher.
Great topic. In my case, hubris prevented me from taking advantage of some opportunities to hitch my wagon to people who would have been excellent mentors for me. I certainly stored and used nuggets of knowledge I gleaned from various folks I respected, but by and large, when it came to writing, I was pretty sure I knew it all by the time I was halfway through with high school. I misinterpreted my good vocabulary and my grasp of punctuation, grammar and sentence structure — beaten into me by the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph — as evidence that I was an excellent writer. My grades on writing projects throughout my education only served to reinforce my inflated sense of my abilities. Looking back, this caused me to blow off legitimate criticism that would have helped me become more than a hack. You, on the other hand, have the rare combination of God-given talent, an expansive imagination and an openness to other people’s ideas. It’s great to see anyone credit their development to mentors, but in my opinion, people who welcome mentorship are going to succeed with or without it. The desire to improve is the whole magilla.