What My Work Journey Can Teach Others to Become a Better Writer - Gary Smith

Those who have not read my biography might be surprised to learn I never went to college. It was a decision I made in my sophomore year of high school. I started my working career as a laborer in the construction trade. Then I had the opportunity to become an electrical apprentice. I graduated, and as a working electrician, I soon became an in-demand foreman. After nine years, I started a small electrical contracting business with an employee. I built this business into a multimillion-dollar business doing large industrial electrical projects nationwide.

After retiring, I started writing. Like starting my business, I had no experience, only the desire for a new challenge. I had no college; my last English class was fifty years earlier, my sophomore year of high school. I did have a lesson drilled into me by my uncle. My uncle was a cement contractor whom I worked for during the high school summers. He was tall, good-looking, quiet, and very direct. If he came onto the jobsite and found you doing nothing, he would throw a hammer or something heavy at you. He had a phrase he would use. Kid, take care of the edges; the middle will take care of itself. It meant the same as, watch the pennies, the dollars will take care of themselves. In other words, paying attention to small details is most important for the success of any kind.

Dodging hammers for a few summers, it became ingrained in my soul. Paying attention to detail has served me well my whole life. It was paying attention to detail that was the unseen truth that separated me from others and led to my success ahead of better and more talented others. Others would have more ability, but by not paying attention to the details of the directions, they would make more mistakes.

Shelby Foote was quoted as saying, “You learn to write dialogue in the workplace, not in the classroom.” He also said the greatest gift a writer can have is the gift of observation. Which means to me to pay attention to detail. When someone is talking, it’s the detail. It is really listening to what is being said. How is he speaking, the emotion, the body language, the words used, and the syntax? My lifelong paying attention to details, especially speech, has helped define my character’s personality.

I have been asked what my goal is for my writing. My answer is always the same. My goal is always to write the best story I can. It is always about the work; the rest will take care of itself.

Gary Smith found joy in solitude and imagination from a young age. Fascinated by people and their interactions, he developed a keen observational eye. Encouraged by his brother, he immersed himself in literature early, reading Cyrano de Bergerac in fifth grade and The Canterbury Tales in sixth, along with classics such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Breakfast at Tiffany’s before high school ended. At sixteen he chose work over college, trained as an electrician, and in 1979 founded an electrical contracting business that grew into a national multimillion-dollar company. A lifelong artist, he began photography at eight and exhibited in 1981. In the 1990s he discovered writing’s power after publishing in Options (1997).

Find out more at https://garysmithauthor.com.

Article published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - March 2026. Downolad the full magazine at https://www.relatable-media.com/the-relatable-voice-magazine.