Name: Alana Morris (formerly Alana Watkins)
First clue you wanted to be a writer; summarize the situation: I think I had always wanted to be a writer, ever since I was a little girl. While other girls were playing house, I was playing “writer”… scribbling furiously in notepads even though I had no idea what I was writing. I used to tag along with my mother’s best friend, Jane, who was a journalist, when she would do interviews and I loved how open people were with her, how they were share their lives and their personal stories with her. I wanted to be a part of that.
Earliest remembered writing and publishing experience: In third grade, I entered into a program called Gifted & Talented (GT) that was for advanced students. By fifth grade, our GT class started learning Latin. Part of our end-of-year project was to creatively depict one of the many stories we had learned in Latin class, whether about Rome or the Greeks or whathaveyou. I chose to write a book. I recreated the stories as modern day fairytales and my mother helped me bind the book. I even drew all the pictures. I still have that book today.
What part of your education helped you most on your path to writing? There are many, many things I could point to that helped my writing throughout my education. Taking Marianne Love’s journalism class and being a part of the Cedar Post student newspaper was first. The book reports I wrote for Mr. Vanek’s senior English class helped me immensely in terms of elevating my level of writing. Reading difficult texts and important authors whether in school or on my own helped me develop my writing style. And in college, just being in that environment and being exposed to so many writers, so many opportunities to learn… that really spoke to the writer in me.
Who influenced you most along your way and how? I think my greatest influences as a writer have been those people I’ve written about as a journalist. Their stories really compelled me to be a better writer in order to do these individuals and their stories justice. Whether they had accomplished something grand or had been through something horrific, my writing was the vehicle that shared their story with the world and that demanded my absolute best.
Most satisfying piece(s) you’ve ever written----its audience: I have two (I’m noticing I have multiple answers for a lot of these questions): First was a piece I wrote for the Cedar Post when I was in high school. Our volleyball team broke the St. Maries’ volleyball team’s winning streak—one of the longest winning streaks in high school sports history. It was such an exciting game! Deadline for the paper was the next day, so I started the story as I was driving home, writing on the notebook in my lap while navigating the way home. I got pulled over for speeding but the cop let me off when we bonded over the broken streak. Writing that story and seeing the drama recreated in print was quite satisfying.
The second was an autobiographical piece that I wrote for a nonfiction writing seminar in college about a terrifying experience I had as a child. It was the first time I had written about it—or really discussed it at all, for that matter—and it was an incredibly freeing experience. It was received very well by my professor and peers but more than anything, I found that writing was also an outlet for grief, pain, fear and many other emotions that we hold inside.
Your publications or venues for writing: Publicist at Random House. This was an amazing experience. Being a part of the process of getting a book published and then making that book a success was fascinating for me, even on my very last day there after five years.
As an avid reader and writer, it was thrilling to read manuscripts in their raw form before everyone else in the world and to have a say in the best way to market that book and its author. My role was to publicize the book, and that generally met writing press materials, getting them out to the reviewers and the press and then scheduling interviews/press tours with the author.
In writing press materials, I almost acted as a reviewer, scouring the book for the most interesting paragraphs or plot lines; plucking memorable quotes or phrases from the text to illustrate the author's style; explaining the author's inspirations for this character or that denouement.
Ultimately, the reviewer might choose whether or not to read the book based purely on my press release, so it had to represent the book and give just enough away to make the reviewer want to put it in the “read” stack instead of the “toss” stack. And that review might make or break a book, depending on where it might appear. So, although I was only writing press releases, it always felt like my role was integral to the success of the book, and whether the book sold 500 copies or 5 million copies, that was always something I cherished.
Today, I use my writing in the public relations field. I write press releases and feature pitches, on behalf of my clients, for the PR agency I own. It's quite a different type of writing from what I've done in the past, but it allows me to be creative and tell stories--my clients' stories. I still hope some day to write a book . . . it's something I have always wanted to do.
Nuggets of advice for young writers in middle school and high school: Explore the different avenues of writing—poetry, plays, journalism, fiction, nonfiction, essays, journaling. Write about your passions. Read everything you can get your hands on. Learn to take constructive criticism.
