A New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva School District teacher recently published a book after 20 years of work, and he hopes to use that experience to teach his students.

English teacher Mike Weber self-published “The Hallows” under the pen name MW Eber through CreateSpace.com, and the book is available through some local books stores, libraries and Amazon.

Weber started working periodically on the fantasy story when he was 19, but he went three or four years without working on it when he started teaching.

The biggest change in that span, Weber said, was an increased understanding of the language, especially vocabulary and punctuation. He also said he now understands how flow, voice and symbolism into his writing.

Weber said he was just writing an adventure story at 19, but he said he thought more about themes and messages as he grew older and started teaching.

“I think back to being in high school, that’s one of the tough things to do, is to find a thesis for a paper,” Weber said.

“That’s something that I realized writing the book. As I got older, that’s more of the fun part with writing. As a younger reader, you aren’t necessary interested in that. You’re interested in the creatures and the magic and this and that. But if you want to make it appealing to all ages, you’ve got to incorporate lots of things.”

Writing the book gave Weber a chance to practice grammar and learn other things that have been beneficial to teaching. Weber said teaching inspired him to publish the book, because he could show the students what could be done and show them the work he’s done.

“You’re always having students write, and one of their responses is, ‘Well, you’re not doing it, and we have to do it,’” Weber said.

He added publishing is a way to practice what he preaches.

“The Hallows”

358 pages

Publisher: CreateSpace

ISBD-10: 1434891194

ISBN-13: 978-1434891198

Plot: Siblings Aspenil and Kolm become servants of the land to tap into the power of legendary relics and save their homeland.

Weber draws from that experience when teaching creative writing, and he said he would like to see students publish short stories or poems. Even if they don’t sell their work, Weber said they learn from the proofreading and editing process.

Weber said it was difficult to know when he was finished editing, proofreading and rewriting. Weber said his wife proofread his book, and Weber tells students it’s important to have someone else read their work from a different perspective.

“My wife let me know when I was done with that,” Weber said. “The problem with the proofreading process is you’re never done. There’s things I would like to change and go back and make changes to and change some wording, but I did break down and just say enough’s enough.”

Weber said he would go back and proofread it again if a major publisher was interested. He said he may send letters to publishers again in the summer.

Weber said he doesn’t believe in writer’s block, and said writing is just a matter of sitting down and taking the time to do it. Writing is difficult, and Weber said it can be even more difficult to know some of the work and effort won’t be used in the final story.

“Lots of what you write will be proofread and you won’t use. That’s something I’m still learning,” Weber said. “I had a few chapters to start out this story, and I ended up getting rid of them. That’s tough because that’s your writing. That’s your ideas, but the story is better without those.”

As he’s seen the complexities and challenges of writing a book, Weber said he’s become more compassionate and understanding of the writing process, and he said it’s changed how he reads students’ papers.

When students seek writing advice, Weber said he encourages them to write, but he tells them it’s a process, something he says with 20 years of experience.

When he was 19, Weber said he gathered story lines and gathered character sketches. This kind of planning took a few years, and then Weber said he would write for a few months, and then take a few months off.

“You’re constantly going back and trying to add things so everything fits together,” Weber said. “Because it does get complicated, and everything’s got to match up. If they’re wearing brown shoes in the first chapter, they’ve got to keep wearing brown shoes. And you forget that and change things.”

Having been through that process, Weber said he tells them there are ways of doing it and publishing their work today, even if they don’t go through a major publisher.

“As a teacher, your goal is to hopefully influence a student or two each year to have some direction in life and to help them out,” Weber said.

“It’s really gratifying. That’s what I’m here for is to hopefully push people in the right direction.”