Like all good stories, this one was bred from inspiration. Well, I have no idea if that's true or not, but it sounds good, so I'm going with it. My inspiration comes from my bouncy, smart, creative, and sometimes a little too big for his britches son, EJ. When I decided to write a novel, I asked him what kind of story he wanted to read. We were sitting on his bed at the time, er, scratch that, I was sitting on his bed, he was jumping on it. He stopped bouncing long enough to stare at his map of the United States on his wall and say that he wanted a story where the kids traveled across the country. Well, what were they looking for? "Their mother!" And thus was born the idea for The Adventures of Gershom and Jasmine.

I am part of an (in)courage group on facebook. This group is all about writing. I love being a part of this group, because it really does encourage me to write! We've learned that there are five main types of writers, and today's challenge was a "Guide" exercise. Pick something you're good at and tell how to do it! The lady in charge (my cousin-in-law) suggested a few different mediums to adapt this how-to exercise to a particular different writing style. I thought I'd play around with it a bit and try several. The only one I didn't even attempt (on paper/computer--I thought about it in my head and that's as far as THAT went!) was the poem. I was going to write a poem about how to fold the perfect paper airplane. I am obviously NOT whatever style poetry is! I don't know how to properly match up the style names with what I've got, so enjoy, and let me know which one you think seems like a better fit with me: list, interview, or story.

EJ and I were playing the other day, and I told him not to think of a green elephant. He laughed (because seriously, as soon as someone tells you not to think of something, don't you immediately think of that specific thing?!). Then he asked me to tell him a story about a green elephant. After I told my story, he told me one of his own.

For a writing exercise, I had to write for fifteen minutes about being "in the moment". Instead of writing from first person, I observed someone (EJ--who else??) and wrote about him being in the moment. This happened on a Sunday at his Grammy's house.

The repetitive thud of the ball bouncing in the concrete basement reverberated throughout the house, waking the cat. She meowed and stretched, an annoyed stretch that raised her neck hair. The rustle of pages suddenly drowned out the ball’s noise and drew the curious cat down the hallway. Grammy flipped another page, seeming to search for a missing paragraph. The couch mentioned its stress with a creak when Grammy shifted with her book, apparently finding what she was looking for.

The basement door opened and slammed shut, encouraged by the howling wind. Leaves danced along the outside walls of the house, begging to be let in. The cat’s owner was home, trudging up the steps, her purse clanging and banging against the rail. The cat meowed several times, and then turned her speech into a purr. The owner coaxed the cat into her bedroom with a sweet, “Hey Kitty-kitty!”

The little boy abandoned his ball and thundered upstairs behind his aunt, suddenly remembering the cookies that had been cooling on the counter. His pure tenor voice begged for some sweets, and his mother quietly instructed him that two was his limit. He scraped the kitchen chair away from the table and made quick work of the chocolate chip cookies. The fridge hummed as water splashed into a plastic cup. The loud gulp-gulp signaled that snack time was almost over.

I was looking through my old stories and came across this nugget. My task was to write the thoughts of a child I observed. Guess which child I observed? :-) I think it was easier to write his thoughts because I knew him, better than I know any other kid.

His thoughts are fictional, but each event really happened. I've changed names to protect to guilty, I mean, the innocent. :-) (Actually, EJ picked out the fake names.) But I have no idea if he actually thought any of this.

written February 15, 2012

There's a song that starts, "One sat alone along the highway begging." It's a song about me, in my sin, as helpless and hopeless as a highway beggar. That first phrase would not get out of my head, so several days ago I decided to write several stories with that phrase as my opening line. This is actually the third story that came from the line, and I think it's the best. I might further develop it into a full-blown article one day. But for now...

Help for the Hopeless

March 15, 2013

Today's writing challenge was to write a protagonist who had to choose something. All good protagonists make a choice in the end; they struggle, then they choose. Here is my protagonist, warring with herself and her past. I really like the direction my story went, and maybe one day soon I can expound upon the reasons Claire locked herself in her room for two months, and why she is finally releasing herself.

written March 1, 2013

Before today's exercise, I had never heard of a MacGuffin trap. Turns out a lot of writers use it. In a plot-driven story, the goal that the characters are reaching for is the most important part of the story, because it will determine the setting, tone, and sometimes even the characters themselves. With a real goal that is developed and explained, the story goes somewhere on purpose.

Today's instructions were to write a story with a MacGuffin trap. This was difficult, because I haven't read many plot-driven stories. Most of what I'm interested in, even in movies and TV shows, is the personal snippets, not the boring plot stuff. Like in NCIS, I love at the beginning, where they're catching up with each other's weekend, and joking around, and also at the end, where we get a glimpse into their personal lives. Some of the plots are difficult to follow, but I don't really care because, well, I don't care about the plot!

So here's a story where the goal could be anything, and it wouldn't really change the story much. If you go to the website, and read the story right above mine (mine's the last one at the very bottom, and then read the one by KellyDaniel), I think she hit the MacGuffin nail on the head. My husband would disagree, but he's biased. :-)

This is written in the comments section of "How to Avoid the MacGuffin Trap and Create a Unique Plot."

I recently found this website, http://thewritepractice.com, that has encouraged me in my writing. Every day, I get an article and a practice assignment that gets me writing for 15 minutes. With the normal interupptions that life with a six year old brings, that 15 minutes of writing normally takes about half an hour, but that's okay too, because it gives me time to think about the next paragraph while I'm kissing bumped knees or wiggling almost loose teeth. Yesterday was the first day that I wrote anything for this website, and today when I went to post my story, I found a sidebar button for my blog. It is underneath my archives, and it will only take you to the main page of the website. Since I have a category of "stories" here on my blog, I will just post what I write there here too. I'll just leave that button there in case anyone wants to go there and read the comments on my stories. :-)

This story is found in the comments section of "What Poetry Teaches Us About Writing Prose."