Great Lakes Author
J. L. Panagopoulos
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  • Home
  • Lesson Plans
    • Teaching Guides
    • Cool Educational Links for Teachers
    • Research: Passport to History MRA handout
    • Appomattox Courthouse
    • John Brown at Harper's Ferry
    • Fredericksburg
    • Bridging History: Mackinac Island
    • De-Mystifying the Writing Process
    • Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp Vocabulary Lesson
    • Traders in Time Vocabulary Lesson
  • Programs
    • Top Reasons to use Books by JL Panagopoulos in your Classroom
  • Research
    • Historical Research
    • Bibliography
    • Historical Chronology
    • What are Sources?
    • Google Earth Files
    • DIY Google Earth
    • Videos
    • Lumbering Background and Links
    • Research Links
  • Writing Fun!
    • Special Event: Kaleidoscope Authors
    • Train to Midnight Rap
    • Writing Tip
    • Grandma's Grammar
    • Students Writing: Write a Story!
    • Editing
    • Be a Wordsmith and Collect Words
    • 7 Words of Communication
    • Our Favorite Things!
    • Graphic Organizer: Create You Own!
    • The History of Language
    • Write a Haiku
    • Collect
    • Ebooks by JL Panagopoulos
  • Janie Lynn Panagpoulos
    • NEWS
    • J. L. Panagopoulos Bio
    • From the Writer's Desk Blog
    • Contact
    • Interview With J.L. Panagopoulos
  • River Road Publications
    • Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp
    • Mark of the Bear Claw
    • North to Iron Country
    • Erie Trail West
    • Calling the Griffin
    • A Faraway Home: An Orphan Train Story
    • Train to Midnight
    • A Place Called Home: Michigan's Mill Creek Story
    • Castle at the Straits: History of the Inhabitants of the Straits of Mackinac
    • Little Ship Under Full Sail: An Adventure in History
    • Traders in Time: A Dream-Quest Adventure
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 From the Writer's Desk
                 Blog

8/2/2017 1 Comment

Nosy Observer

I have had people over the years ask me what it is like to be a writer.  I always find that question interesting because it isn’t something I think about; being a writer is just who I am.  I think I was born to write. I know I was born to tell stories. 
​  My third-grade teacher, Mrs. Richardson pushed me into writing with the threat, “Put your ideas on paper and stop disrupting my class or you’re gonna spend another year, right here, in my classroom.”  I can still see her mustached upper lip snarling at me and her piercing black eyes flashing with punishable seriousness.
  I always had my own ideas, from the time I can remember, about everything. I watched. I listened. I commented on everything (whether anyone was listening or not), and if I didn’t comment verbally, I had a continual inner-dialogue going on in my head.  Words, words, words, thoughts and ideas went along with reading stacks of books.
  I always thought if I went to school in the 90s and not the 60s, they would have probably had me on a drug, and I would have sported a label.  Gratefully, I had parents who took my nosy, commenting energy and turned me into a storyteller.
  Sitting on a street bench with my mother we would “people watch” and tell each other complete stories, that, we were certain were true.  I felt like Sherlock Holmes, at an early age, watching, listening, observing limps and broken heels, scars, and scratches. Going to lunch and sitting in locations where I could ease-drop and overhear conversations, picking out accents, attitudes, and storylines.
  People today, often mistake my, self-inflicted, solitary life, for aloofness or arrogance.  It is not that; I just want to watch, smell, hear, taste and feel everything that is going on around me, completely.
  It is often difficult for writers to turn off the writer inside to socialize or be with groups of friends or even family.  I know that sounds strange, but it is the demanding part of my work that pulls me, secretly, into the viewpoint of strangers.  Sometimes playing with my imaginary friends, my characters, is just so interesting.
  Writer’s to communicate must observe, smell the flowers, and hear the bees to have something to write about.
  So when asked what it is like to be a writer, I just shrug my shoulders and mumble something along the lines of being weird and just, a nosy observer.  
1 Comment

    Author, historian Janie Lynn Panagopoulos has worked in the field of historical research, interpretation, and professional writing for over 37 years.  Starting in the advertising field writing commercials for radio, television, newspapers and magazines, she moved into journalism and writing columns for newspapers and magazines with over 1,000 articles to her credit.  Nearly 25 years ago, she began writing Great Lakes historical fiction novels for students 3rd-8th grade.  Panagopoulos believes sharing the stories of our American past, helps students understand who we are, today, in history.

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