Name: Trish Gannon
First clue you wanted to be a writer; summarize the situation: I don’t actually remember a time when I wasn’t both a writer and a reader.
Earliest remembered writing and publishing experience: I skipped second grade and in third grade I used to write stories for extra credit. I didn’t actually need the extra credit, as I was an A student, but I had to have something to do with all the extra time I had in class. I remember writing a story about cats that I was terribly unsatisfied with – I felt like I had just cobbled some research together and there was no real ‘original’ writing in the story. I got an A+ and a lot of recognition for that story, and I was amazed that people could think something so bad was so good. ;0)
What part of your education helped you most on your path to writing? Reading. And more reading.
Who influenced you most along your way and how? Oh wow. I’ve been influenced by everyone I ever met in ways both good and bad.
Most satisfying piece(s) you’ve ever written----its audience: Really too many to pick just one. But a favorite is a story I wrote back in ‘93 or ‘94, about Comp White Jr. Comp was a U.S. Congressman, born and raised right here in Clark Fork. His father was a U.S. Congressman before him. And he hated newspapers and journalists! I finally got Comp to meet with me, talk, and let me write his story. I not only got a good friend out of it, but loved to write about some of my favorite subjects – people, history, and this little town that’s become my home.
Your publications or venues for writing: The River Journal, Sandpoint Magazine, Internet…
Nuggets of advice for young writers in middle school and high school: When I talk with students and ask who in the audience is a writer, generally only one or two will raise their hands. But when I ask who in the audience is a talker, all hands go up. Yet if you can talk – if you can tell a story verbally – then you can write and probably write well. Unfortunately, people think they’re not writers and that blocks them when they try to write. I always advise students that if they have to, dictate their story into a tape recorder, then write down what they hear on playback. Reading, a good editor, and practice will teach you grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, spelling, how to limit what you write, etc… these are all concerns that stop people from writing. Yet the first secret to writing well is to find the voice in which you tell your stories – and if you listen to how you talk, you can figure that out.
Rule number two is practice – just like every other skill (volleyball, playing the piano, painting) the more you do it, the better you will do. I have watched almost every writer I’ve worked with on the River Journal (Marianne Love and Sandy Compton are glowing exceptions) grow in their writing ability throughout the years.
