William Yasanari Harris

Growing up as a child, I was a doodler. When I got in high school I took a Creative Writing course my junior year and quickly discovered words as a channel for my overactive imagination. After I was discharged from the Army, I went to college to develop my skills as a writer. I studied anything and everything that I thought might further my skill and eye as a writer--focusing mostly on the Humanities and Social Sciences. I've had some things published back then in collegiate literary journals and in a company newsletter where I worked. I graduated with a degree in Writing for the Professions and Business.

Over the last 40 years, I've spent considerable time honing my skill as a writer and finding the process of writing that works best for me--I am a habitual rewriter that couldn't finish anything. When I finally learned to harness what seemed a curse I discovered a unique voice with words that's truly me. I have written five stories that were submitted to the New Yorker and returned with rejection slips that had written comments--as of now that is my claim to fame.

I finished my first novel about five years ago. It's a third person account of a tragic character from the viewpoint of a Holden Caulfield type of narrator. I attempted too much. I am now rewriting the novel with a more defined viewpoint and storyline.

I will say that the process has given me a greater appreciation for writing; and the realization that for me writing is about the next sentence.