My Mentor

Reading Susan Oleksiw’s post about writing mentors made me know I had to write about mine–Willma Gore.

I met Willma when I moved to Springville and joined a Porterville writing group. (I’ve belonged to this same group since 1981 though the members have changed through the years.) Willma had many articles published in West Ways magazine, Guideposts, farm journals and many other publications.

During our critique group meetings , she pointed out many ways for each of us not so well-published writers to make what we were working on better. New people joined the group, others dropped out, but Willma and I remained. I learned so much from her such as how to better handle point-of-view, making the setting real, creating believable characters, dialogue that moved the plot along and revealed character, using sounds, smells, taste, touch as well as what things and people looked like, and so much more.

We became good friends and traveling companions as we attended various writing conferences. She eventually moved to the coast where I visited her when I attended various conferences there. Time passed, we both grew older, and she once again moved, this time to be near a son in Sedona Arizona. I was able to visit her several times and sat in on a couple of her regular writing classes where she was continuing to teach writing skills to other aspiring authors.

Willma is now in her late nineties and living in an assisted living facility, where she still holds weekly writing classes. We still keep in touch via email and she’s one of my biggest fans, always reading my latest book.

I owe so much to Willma, not only for what she taught me, but also for a wonderful and long friendship.

Marilyn