Zachary McClellan

Sitting in a hunting stand this past winter, the wind burning my face as I waited for a deer to wander through my sights; I had a lot of time to think. It was actually much more time than I would have liked. I would have hoped to have been distracted by a parade of white-tail deer shuffling through my firing lanes, but that was not the case. Actually, only three does (female deer) ever came into view. Two of them were small, yearlings perhaps, but one, possibly the mother of the other two, came to a halt no more than twenty yards from me and stopped to sniff around in the partially showing grass for a snack. I sat there and watched her poke around for a moment, hoping that she would grow a six-to-ten point set of antlers before my eyes. She didn't.  As I watched her, I couldn't help but notice that the deer was beautiful and graceful (and very likely delicious). I stared at the soft brown coat and smooth movements, holding my breath in hopes to not frighten the...

Today I was doing my final edit on my book (so close to done with the editing!!!), and I thought to myself "This is pretty good!" This was an odd thought to shoot into my head. For the past several days of editing, I had thoughts like "this sucks" or "should I scrap this and start over?" So, as you can imagine, it was a pleasant surprise to be satisfied and even thrilled with my writing. I have performed in several plays in the past, and my thought process over the last week has reminded me of the acting process. I remember, on so many different occasions, feeling like my performance was doomed to fail. I would often feel this way all the way up through the first performance. Then... the audience laughs, or claps, or sighs; and then you know that you have drawn them in. All of your self-conscious thoughts and fears dissipate, and you become just as lost in the performance as the audience is. With writing, I have found that the apprehens...

I am someone who is quick to apologize.  If I bump into someone, if I am standing in their way, forget to hold the door for them, etc. I am very quick to apologize. In fact, I apologize so much that my wife has repeatedly told me to stop apologizing so much. Apparently, it isn't necessary to apologize for not doing something before people ask you to do it. who knew... I have since been working on my overuse of the words "I'm sorry", and I have found that writing stories has been helpful. When you write a story, you want it to say something. You want it to send a message. Whether it is as simple as good vs. evil, or something as complex as political idealism, you want your story to send a message. Unfortunately, at least for me, your message will never take shape if you are too busy worrying about possibly offending members of your audience. J.K. Rowling had people burning her books. Suzanne Collins met opponents her violent themes when crossed w...