Keeping in the Spirit of Keeping in the Spirit

Slice of Life: Day 14

I’ve been listening to William Zinsser’s On Writing Well. Today he mentioned the importance of brevity. In that spirit, here is my post for today:

Parenting is hard.

I’ll see you tomorrow,

rg

P.S. In keeping with the spirit of keeping in the spirit (sorry, William), I don’t want to disrespect our March challenge. So, I will write a second post. But in actuality, I feel it will be one of the longest post-scripts you’ve ever read – or considered reading. Or looked at by accident before exiting my blog.

No hard feelings. For now.

I enjoy questions asking to ponder the past. We’re all a product of our choices, and sometimes a trip (or fall) down memory lane reveals why we are who we are. Sometimes, it gives us a greater appreciation for the people composed of the memory. They may even extract fun arguments because we all seem to remember the same incidences in different ways. For example, my brothers and I disagree whether or not I, who was in a hurry to get somewhere, kicked in the garage door on a Thursday, which may or may not have prompted my mom to call the police.

The incident in question did not happen. At all. On a Thursday. It happened on a Friday. However, we agree that it was on a Sunday when my mom picked me up from my weekend trip when she shared the delightful news the Lancaster police were at our house. It was the same Sunday I told her it was me and not a burglar and that I may or may not have kicked a second door in solidifying the decision to call the local authorities. See? Good times.

Along with novels, short stories and screenplays, one goal is to write a memoir. Similar in style to Stephen King’s On Writing, I’d like to use my childhood memories as examples to teach writing. I have learned a lot during my MA program. I’m a teacher at heart, so this endeavor only makes sense. It needs to stand apart from other books – whether it garners any sales or not. Josh Wilker wrote a brilliant and funny memoir relating baseball cards to his life growing up. Such a great idea. I wish I had thought of it.

My list names all of the moments that I believe inspired my journey as a writer. Christoper Vogler already has a book called, The Writer’s Journey, so, in keeping with the spirit of keeping with the spirit, I will name my book, The Journey’s Writer.

I have gotten off track of what I wanted to write about for this post-script. I wanted to share a list of questions to ask yourself to recall childhood memories, believing they are beneficial for memoirs, so-called writer’s block and character depth for fictional stories – something my memoir would explain further.

I’ll save those for another post but will conclude by sharing some of the moments that put me on a writer’s path. Again, I will use another post to delve into the details.

·      The Wizard of Oz – It played once a year. It started at 8 and ended at 11. Staying up late was never more fun. And frightening.

·       Back to the Future – Dude! I was nine in 1985, so I know I didn’t understand everything. I didn’t need to. All I had to know is the DeLorean was a freaking fantastic time machine, and Marty almost got stuck in the past. An element of time travel, like cabins, often emerges in my stories.

·   A Christmas Carol – I watched the 1984 version with George C. Scott every year. It was my first experience witnessing the ever-necessary element of character change in a story.

·      Paul Harvey – No explanation needed. You know (the rest of) the story.

More to come. Thank you for reading.

Dream Out Loud,

rg