I always wanted to be a writer. I loved books as a little kid, and was a voracious reader, a word I learned with my Webster’s dictionary always by my side. I had my Superhero comics, my Great Grandfather Jones’ Charles Dickens full set of hardcovers, and all of the Hardy Boys books in blue.

Every writer had a style and every book had a mini-lesson on telling a story, painting a picture, or setting a scene. I had a pop-up digital Cosmo lamp (pretty cool at the time) that I would put at the head of my bed, crawl under the covers on my belly, and pull the covers over my head and lamp to read through the night. In hindsight, I’m lucky I didn’t start my bed on fire!

I distinctly remember the first paper I wrote entitled “I Want To Be A Lawer.” No, that’s not a typo, I spelled “lawyer” wrong, and I still have that paper. It didn’t deter me, though, because from that point on I KNEW I was headed for law school. Of course, I didn’t anticipate that I’d later drop my law classes for a microphone and start an entertainment company in Minnesota, but that’s what happened, nonetheless.

Back in college, I did a lot of writing and had “minimum word counts” to contend with. I’d phrase and re-phrase to add bulk until I finally learned to stop counting and start actually writing what I wanted to say. After that, I always had more than enough to stop counting altogether.

I laugh now as I proofread my kids’ papers with those same minimums, with plenty of “really’s,” “very’s,” and other fluff words to hit their targeted word count. I am usually pretty gentle as I cross out the fluff and guide them to better ways of writing. Here at the Vegas Voice Magazine, I get a maximum of 350 words, so I must be careful not to go over, or Captain Dan will bring out the ruler for my knuckles, or so I’ve been warned.

So now I count. Every word. Really!