Why am I a writer? That’s a good question. I have always been a storyteller. Perhaps I get it from my father. He would tell us stories by candlelight every night in the summertime. Each night one of his four children would be the hero of the adventure, rescuing the others from imminent danger or leading the way back home to safety. We would hold our breath during the climaxes every time, even though we knew the story would end happily. Maybe that was it. Life situations don’t always end happily, but in stories they can.
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| The Storyteller |
I don’t write fantasy, I write contemporary short stories, mostly YA. No vampires or zombies or aliens. While they are all fascinating stories, mine are grounded in possibilities. Some protagonists have parents, some don’t. But no matter what happens in the story, somehow the protagonist learns to deal with the life situation he or she is living. That’s not to say that nothing exciting happens in my stories. I LOVE adventure and I LOVE nature, so I usually combine the two to create action in the story. I have children lost in a cave while the protagonist deals with feelings of loss and anger and another situation where a young protagonist is the only one home to rescue her grandfather from danger. My characters deal with unwanted responsibilities and desires to make others happy. While I realize that these are universal themes, I hope to make my stories unique in their situations.
I love to learn, as I have said before. I enjoy researching topics and speaking with experts for short articles I write for a local magazine. Whether I am learning something new with the students I substitute teach or learning along with my classmates in a new online course I’m taking, I enjoy telling stories of my learning experiences. That’s what I will be doing in my memoir about going to college with five children in tow. My learning stories encompass how to study on the go, attending my children’s sporting events, creating chemistry presentations with the twins, and creating French videos with NON-French speaking camera crew—okay, my younger children.
What about you? Do you like to create stories or relay family anecdotes?
I loved your post and will be waiting for your memoir to come out.
Great post, Victoria! Although I like to write family anecdotes, I much prefer to write fiction. For me, it's more fun to make up stories, characters and places than it is to write about real things. And, yes, I prefer to write stories that are likely to happen!
Thank you both, Marie and Ellen, for reading my blog post.
Marie, I begin my "Write your memoir in 6 months" course in January and I'm as nervous as can be. I hope I can keep up. Sometimes I think I push myself too hard, but after going to college for ten years–ten of my children's growing-up years–just writing my story should be easier. Here's hoping!
Ellen, it is true that writing fiction is more fun. At least the writer can be in control of what happens and somehow have the story not seem contrived. But then again…my five children are certainly characters…
Thanks again, ladies, for stopping by my Adventures in Writing blog. It is truly appreciated.
I have faith in you!!!
Thank you, Marie. Your faith in me will help make me stronger. Thanks for stopping by my Adventures in Writing blog.
Just by reading your blogs, I can tell that you are a storyteller. I wish you all the luck with your memoir class and your memoir writing.
Thank you, Michelle. Yes, I love to tell stories, although sometimes my children do not wish to be the main characters in them. I will always be a storyteller, however, like my father before me.
Thanks so much for reading my blog post. It is appreciated more than you realize.