4.17.2011

On Writing and the Decisions We Make to Tell Our Stories


We must write what we feel called to write, and the year after my grandfather dies, I write a short essay about him and how he took to my firstborn. Those who read it receive it enthusiastically, and shortly thereafter I become inspired to tell more of the story and I begin.

When the girls are just babies -- Natalie an infant, Hannah three, I take laptop to bed one night and stare at the illuminated screen, tapping at the keys until well after my household sleeps.

I wake the next morning, re-read what I wrote, and decide that not only is it a story worth telling, it may be the best thing I've ever written.

Having never written a book before, nothing but a couple of novel starts over the years, I spend time brainstorming on paper, writing down memories, reading books on writing. I find that despite my inclination to write and having a solid story to tell, the ability to map out a book is not as natural as I had hoped.

Structure, plot, story arc, where to begin and where to end ... it's all foreign.

I know what I want to tell, I know the meaning behind the story, I just don't know how to tell it.

It's slow going at times, this weaving of narrative. But I return again and again to what I felt when I began -- it's a story worth telling. So I will tell it.

2 comments:

  1. So very well put. I admire your perseverance and can't wait to read your book. :)

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  2. I trust the Holy Spirit will guide you as you continue in this endeavor. I firmly believe we are used by him as HE pleases and so can't wait to see how he uses this story (and you) as well as how he chooses to make this unfold.

    ReplyDelete

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