Writing
Once upon a time...
Tales have to start somewhere and mine began with poetry. I wrote haikus, cinquains, metered rhyme and, of course, prose to express the emotions that overwhelmed me as a youth. I kept them in a small book and then would add sketches that reflected the message in the poem. I still write poetry, but the book has been set aside for the keyboard of the computer. I am also a writer of short stories, sketches, monologues, one-act plays and full-length plays...and I am working on a novel.
I always seem to start small and it becomes more than what I planned I don't often write out the outline. Most often the story just grows - like life. My novel began as a short story, but by the end of nine pages I hadn't got beyond the first morning of the character's experience. I am currently in the editing phase, so elements will either be expounded on or they will be slashed and it is a tedious and terribly tenuous time for a writer.
Like many creative people, I always have several projects going at the same time. I keep trying to compile a collection of my one-acts and monologues. It is repetitious, I start gathering, and then an idea will form for a new play that may start as a one-act and grows to be a full-length play. During that time a friend calls and asks if I want to collaborate with him on a musical. This of course happens while I am advising a start-up theatre and have meetings to attend. All of this in often interrupted by some other creative activity - directing, painting, beadwork, and of course the daily efforts of the culinary arts!
When I carve out a devoted period of time, I have slid into what is almost a trance as I begin the writing process of slipping into the world of other characters. This must be what it was for Alice and the looking glass. Let me share a few of my worlds with you.
Writing a Novel
Looking Beyond the Clouds
I didn't start out trying to write a novel. It began as a short story that grew. Because I am so active in other creative areas, I find that those avenues hijack me from my focus on this project. However, at this point I think it is finally close to the finish line on the novel. Currently I am editing the chapters for continuity. Next will be finding pre-readers to give me feedback. After that, I will look for an editor. Most likely, I will self-publish.
Looking Beyond the Clouds (working title) is a coming-of-age piece about a young woman. It takes place in Sonoma County in Northern California. This area is a vacation spot that I have visited many times over a 30-year period.
I have always been fascinated by clouds. I recall learning about them in elementary school and was captivated by the variance of their formations. I would watch the clouds in the sky change and began to be more aware of how they were premonitory soothsayers of what the weather would bring. That was the impetus of this book. When I began this process of writing, I sat down to write a short story and as I looked out my window, I was mesmerized by the cloud formations that were sweeping across the sky. While cocooned in my studio, my thoughts formed, and my fingers flew on the keyboard as the hands on the clock silently inched ahead. While I worked, I watched as the sky outside went through an incredible metamorphosis where the clouds swept in and went sailing past, forming and reforming. So did my concept for my story. By the time I had finished chapter one I realized that my character, Charlene, had a much bigger tale to tell.
Charlene’s story is divided into four formative days and stages of her life where she is at four different ages – 7, 14, 21 and 28. Each day is given three chapters that look back on the people who were instrumental in her life, the choices she made and the actions she took as she came into her own. The story begins when Charlene learns that her parents have died, and she is to be raised by her grandmother. As the story progresses, this young girl grows into womanhood and we watch her be swept up in a range of relationships that guide, confuse, injure, and strengthen her. Like the clouds that metaphorically represent her life, she faces winds of change as she traverses through her young life under gossamer grey wisps of deception, facing storms that leave her world damaged, yet she still searches for those sun-kissed blue skies. It is a tale filled with loss, longing, friendship, humor, passion, love, and redemption – much like your life and my own.
Short Stories
Holiday Stories
A few years ago, I began a tradition of writing a holiday story that I emailed out to a collection of friends and family every Christmas. It seems that the list is growing, so as I continue to write these, I might actually consider putting them into another collection that can become a holiday book. I have a fondness for snowmen, so the first two featured them. Here you can see the illustration that I included with one of the stories titled, Oh OH!
General Stories
Most of my other short stories have been about life experiences. They range from a collection of events that involved my children, and travels we took as a family, as well as some stories that reflect upon some of my own childhood memories.
My favorite "short story" was a longer story about the finding of our stray dog, Mike, and the time we had with him. He was the perfect (cough, cough) dog.