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New Beginnings

New Beginnings ~ By C. J. Strong

          First of all I would just like to thank everyone for coming on and viewing my Blog. My name is C. J. Strong or better known by as my real name Cliff Armstrong. The reason for a pen name is because I am an aspiring author. All that means is that I am dedicating large amounts of my time into writing a novel. I'm already well into my first draft and I plan on writing an entire series of them. 
What type of book you may ask?
          Well, I am trying to write it within the realm of fantasy. It's coming along nicely and definitely has a lot of suspenseful moments along with twists and turns, BUT I am not here to just promote my book. I am here to build a fan base, a community, dedicated to knowledge. A college professor of mine recently told me that to be a student is great, even a successful student, but what will set you apart from the rest is to become a scholar. So here's to New Beginnings!




Writing, is it easy?

          Now I'd like to start my Blog off here by keeping things a bit informal but also educational. As soon as my friends heard I was attempting to become an author I was flooded with questions. One of the main questions I get thus far is "is it easy?"
ANSWER:
          Of course it is. Everybody has a vivid imagination and who wouldn't want to try their hand at writing in order to entertain people. After extensive research however, and through trial and error, I have learned that there is a major difference between a writer and an author.
Anybody can write, but to have the determination and crazy work ethic to edit the teeth out of their writings until finally it is a masterpiece is quite rare. It takes some authors years upon years to finally first get published and even then their chances of getting published again is very low. As a Math Major, I do enjoy crunching numbers and figuring out statistics and let me tell you it is quite surprising the ratio between writers and authors, but that is a blog story for another day.



What do you like to read?

          Now that I've answered a question, it is you, the audience's turn. What types of things do you like to read? I am very curious and any and all answers/comments are welcome. The more information you give me the better, because after all it is the people who determine what is popular and what is not. Just to get you guys started I'll try to answer as well.
ANSWER:
          To be honest, I'm not much of a reader. I know it probably doesn't make sense of why would a writer not like to read? But that's just the thing. I love to entertain people, and bring them joy and laughter, but most books just don't do that for me. Which is exactly why I posed this question, to get the inside scoop on how others feel. Now don't get me wrong, I've read a few books before, but I do the majority of my reading online. In this day and age, as a young adult I spend most of my time reading and writing text messages or watching TV/movies instead of actually reading books. 
Your turn!
All I ask is for a moment of your time ladies and gentleman. Please, if you took the time to read all of this then you must be pretty invested by now anyways so why not help me, an aspiring author. Like and leave a comment answering today's question, and you could even go so far as to ask me a question and it may appear on my next blog. The idea here is for us to learn, together. I promise to spice things up every now and then to keep things interesting to keep on following my blog, keep on reading, and keep on keeping on!



~ C. J. Strong: writer, aspiring author, and aspiring to be great.
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Location: Chinese Camp, CA 95309, USA

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