WRITING LIFE STORIES IN SPITE OF THE SCARS AND WRINKLES OF TIME

Writing to preserve yesterday’s stories is no easy task. They’re sometimes filled with scars and wrinkles of our past as I wrote in An Easy Guide to Writing Life Stories.

                                “Scars and wrinkles appear in all lengths and depths,

                                wrapped in sundry textures. Some quite visible to the

                                naked eye, others not so much.”

Scars may come from childhood scrapes, like when I squeezed between the barbed wire fencing to escape a raging bull. Or so I thought. Seven-year-olds have active imaginations, but I still have a five-inch scar on the inside of my right knee just the same.

As we know, scars are not limited to the adventures of children. Adults have had time to gather more.

It’s true that some scars are invisible, coming from hurt, loss, or other trauma. However, internal scars are usually the ones we don’t talk about much, except with our best friend on one of those days. Or on the comfy couch of a quiet note-taking therapist.

Wrinkles are a different story altogether. They can be caused by frowning, laughing, squinting, and other repeated facial expressions. Those darn wrinkles can surface at any time in our life, too, and the longer we have them, the deeper they get.

But can wrinkles be invisible? I believe they can. They can prevent us from getting words on paper. Wrinkles will trip us up every time. Not literally, like tripping on an uneven sidewalk or a hallway rug. Sometimes I’d prefer those! No, those internal wrinkles come in the form of doubt, fear, or insecurity, causing us to hesitate and question our ability, skill, and passion for sharing our stories.

I was introduced to those guys long ago. And they still visit me more often than I’d like to admit. Jerks! This may be why I have a three-inch easel sporting an equally small metal sign on my desk that reads Look in the mirror. That’s your only competition as a daily reminder. Yes, daily. I wonder if Delia Owens, from Where The Crawdads Sing fame, ever has such visitors.

My guess is, even after selling ten million Crawdad copies and a movie soon to be released, they visit her, too. Maybe not as frequently as I experience, but doubt, fear, insecurity are parts of the life of writers.

Are you beginning a new project? Knock-knock. Can I do this? Will anyone read it? What will they think? Why the heck am I writing this?

No matter how successful Delia or Nicholas, or Danielle have been, starting a new project brings those unwanted visitors knocking. That we can count on.

So what is a writer to do? I say, WRITE. Write like there’s no tomorrow. This moment is what we know for sure. Will it be perfect? No. Will it be revised and tweaked before you feel it’s done? Absolutely. Numerous times.

Why not wrap those scars and wrinkles, both the visible and invisible, up in swaddling textures of silk and satin, canvas and denim, leather and lace, and add the sensory details readers long for?

Be patient and kind to yourself. It’s not a race.

And if you need help to get started or to finish a project, check out the 2022 schedule under the tab above marked CLASSES and join us. You won’t be disappointed.