True Stories of a Mediocre Writer ... and Accidental Author

All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” is what Ernest Hemingway says about the essence of good storytelling. This book is for anyone who is a writer of organized words whether they are fiction, nonfiction, poetry, work memos, grant applications, academic papers, or love letters. Read this book if you're a professional writer, a novelist just starting out, or a screenwriter with a half-done script lost deep in the bowels of a computer hard drive. Are you a writer who wonders how to get over self-doubt, kick your obsession with perfection, and for whatever reasons, can't quite finish your writing project? This book will provide insight, and a few tips through the experiences of the author about becoming more confident in your ability balancing perfection and accuracy that results in a higher likelihood of finishing your work.

This memoir by Alan O'Hashi relates how his lessons from life were big influences that resulted in his first book pitch based on a typed up piece of paper in June, resulted in an 80,000 word manuscript and book publishing contract five months later.

Alan is a native of Cheyenne, Wyoming where he began writing as a 12 year old reporter for his junior high school newspaper, "The Tumbleweed." He relates his growth as a writer surviving a 1,000 year flood, an emergency landing of an airplane with a fire on board, two job layoffs after 9/11, and getting up from his death bed.