Writing workshop

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Last night I went to a creative writing workshop sponsored by my church. It was a small group but it was great meeting other writers. Writing can some times be a lonely activity so it is fun getting together and hearing other people's thoughts. 

We went through some exercises to get our thoughts out on paper. We focused on our memories to maybe use for a story, but mostly just to get thoughts on our paper. Our second exercise was called "The Old 'Hood". On a piece of paper, we drew a 1/2-inch square somewhere in the middle of the page. This represents the house you grew up in. 

Surrounding that square, draw what you can remember of the neighborhood where you grew up. Draw houses, streets, landmarks, etc. (from a bird's eye perspective). Be thorough, but don't worry about detail, and no one will see it, so you it doesn't have to be pretty. Just show what goes where roughly. Then do the following:

• In 3 minutes, make a list all the people who live on that map.
• Pick 3 people and write down one memory of each.
• Pick 1 of those people and write down three more memories.
• Pick 1 of those memories and write about it. As much as possible.

I picked my best friend from my child home Katie. It was a great little exercise and I thought I would share my more polished answer with you...

My best friend Katie and I were always together, we lived next door to each other and we were always running in between each other's houses.  I don't remember any one being around us, everyone else around us just seemed too busy to really be in our lives, she had four brothers and my mom was a single working mom so when we were together it was just us. I remember together we never had to look perfect or stylish. She had long dark hair and she never worried about it being messed up, she just pushed it away. And we never worried about having perfect clothes, our parents didn't have a lot of money so we were mostly stuck with hand-me-downs or clothes that were bought at good will and we were okay with that. I thought she was such a tomboy the way she always wanted to play Mighty Morphin Power Rangers (she was the yellow one, I was the pink one) and she never minded getting pushed around by her brothers. But we also played Barbies together, and she introduced me to Alanis Morisette (who I thought was so rock then). Some of my 

favorite memories with her were on my swing set racing to see who could see over the fence the fastest. We could be out on her trampoline or my swing set until sun down and I always remember it being summer so sunset was pretty late. 

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I really enjoyed the exercises in dealing with memory. I hope if any more writing workshops come up I can go because I think it is really important to have a writing community.

In Want of Womanhood

I saw this little tray at my dad and step-mom's house sitting on a little antique vanity table and it looked so picturesque that I took a picture with my phone to think about using it in my story.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sit gazing in the mirror feeling that I still possessed some childish features in my face from the little freckles on the ridge of my nose and the slight pudginess in my cheeks that could still be called baby fat. But I hadn't been a baby in 16 years and at seventeen I wanted to gaze into my reflection and see this elegant grown up woman looking back at me. A woman who has every hair perfectly in place and eyes that can make a man go weak at the knees. My hair usually disheveled and my eyes are plain and not likely to make a man go weak in the knees. But tonight is a special night so I picked up my ivory comb and tried to untangle my hair and make it look more womanly tamed. I put a tad of my mother's perfume that had the wonderful fragrance of wild lilies and sweet mint. My mother only wore it on special occasions and tonight she was letting me wear it. Wearing mother's perfume made me want to feel grown up. I then pulled my hair up in a twist as I had watched my older sister do a thousand times and hoped no one would notice that a few strands fell out around my face. I pinched my cheeks in the way my sister had shown me so they would look more rosy and clasped mother's pearl necklace around my neck. I placed my hand over them rubbing the pearls ever so lightly with the tips of my fingers. Mother only owned two necklaces her locket, that carried father's picture and never came off her neck and this pearl necklace, it was the one she had married father in and was her only real luxury in life. She didn't even let Laurel wear them to her first ball but she was letting me and I knew how important that was.

"Emmy," mother's call to me hastened my step.

I looked at myself quickly and even snagged a glance in the small hand mirror to correct any little flaws I could and then got up from the vanity. 'I hope I remember this night forever,' I thought took a deep breath and adjusted my dress one last time and then left the room as my mother called for me again.

Newly 25

Hello,

A few days a go was my 25th birthday. A big birthday I guess, or at least that's what people said. Of course some of my friends are older and they told me this was the last big one before 30. I don't know if this was my last big one I love my birthday and getting a lot of my friends to celebrate and have fun together. Friends from my college days, my church, and others all came out to celebrate and it was perfect I thought. We had Pizza at California Pizza Kitchen and then went out to do Karaoke. Where I and a few of my brave friends attempted to sing Telephone by Lady Gaga, Baby by Justin Beiber and Wannabe by the Spice Girls. It was lots of fun! And I loved all my friends for cheering me on.

Over dinner I was asked what I would like to do by my next birthday. I said I would like to be a full time student. As some of you know I am currently working full time and going to school part time and while that was good I think I'd rather get my masters done so I can work in the library field I want to work in not just calling my self a wanna be librarian. I also said I didn't want to sail around the world in lawn chair and little boat. While I do wish I could travel more I know with school and fiances that's not always possible. I have been thinking also lately I would like to write more.

I do have some down time at work and I usually spend that time on Facebook... not usually doing what I want to do and that is writing. I have countless stories all running through my head. But most of them never get out of my head on and on to paper. And as you can probably tell I am not a published author so even if I write them out. I never finish them. I don't want to get side tracked a lot. Also when I was in school this last semester my brain got fried. But I do need some mental release and that's when I escape into the world of my stories. So any way I would like to give 20 minutes of writing every day, which isn't that much but I have to at least keep writing.

The story I have most going through my mind is kind of a Sense and Sensibility story. Only it takes place in the early 20th century about a mother and her 3 daughters (the older 2 are the main characters) but they live in their Grandmother's house because after the death of their father they are poor. The story is mostly told through Emmy's eyes. She is the second daughter and longs for adventure more than anything and hates the confines of her world. Then Laurel is painted as this modest young woman who is very gentle and though the beauty of the town, Pine Haven, her modesty cast her rather plainly. She also feels a great burden to marry well so she can pull her family out of its humble standings. The action of the story begins when their cousins the well to do Danfords come to visit, Marcus and Julia and their friend Ethan Foster. Ethan is college mates of Marcus from England and has a summer position in New York but before the position begins he spends a few weeks with the Danfords. Also Marcus is recently engaged to Kathryn James. But he knows to continue his inheritance he must get approval of his Grandmother Cornelia. She demands to meet Kathryn. Kathryn brings along her eldest brother Brandon James and then the next brother Caleb joins them after a few weeks. By that time Ethan has gone off to New York every one thinks he will be back shortly and propose to Laurel but she does not encourage such comments. Julia has long loved Caleb and hopes that as soon as her brother and his sister are married she will be married to Caleb. But Caleb falls for Laurel when he tells this Julia she says that Laurel will soon be engaged to Ethan Foster. Caleb says that's impossible as Ethan has long been engaged to Sally Lawrence, secretly of course. In the background of all this Brandon James has fallen for Emmy but no one but her mother sees it because Brandon is at least 10 years older than her. That's mostly what I got figured out right now but I think there is going to be some more action in Boston at Marcus and Kathryn's wedding and also a twist at the end when Grandma Cornelia dies.

I imagine my characters living in this grand house and even though its beautiful it is also so grand it looks a little suffocating at least to Emmy.

Because of the constraint of her grandma's house Emmy spends a lot of time in the woods by her house.