Sunday, March 11, 2012

Slice of Life Day 11

When I was growing up I wrote all kinds of stories, mostly about a family with lots of daughters since I had 3 sisters.  I loved coming up with interesting names for each of them.  My mentor was Louisa May Alcott and I absolutely loved An Old Fashioned Girl.  I wrote many of my own versions of that story.  When I was finished I would hide the stories in my desk in my part of the large attic room my sisters and I shared.  Once in awhile I would decide to share my stories...and my younger sister would tell me she had already read it!  She would dig in my hiding place and read my stories.  I continued to be reluctant in sharing my work, but when I finally showed my daughter the book I had written as a child with Louisa as my mentor her reaction surprised me.  "You wrote in a very old fashioned way, like from another time."  At first I was offended, then realized I had written in the style of my mentor!  I still have my stories and poetry hidden away, it really was only a way of expressing my feelings and I rarely shared any of them unless I really trusted the person. (not my younger sister!)

7 comments:

  1. Yes, young sisters do that. They can't seem to resist. I have a younger sister too. She was the reason I stopped keeping a diary. I would love to read some of your stories, if you would like to share them. It might be fun to go back and update or revise a few. Just a thought. Thanks for sharing.

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    1. PS I love amethyst as it's my birthstone and favorite color:)

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  2. Sharing our writing makes us so vulnerable. It's sharing our innermost thoughts and feelings as well as our attempts at the craft and I know I'm soooooo insecure about that. So glad this is a safe place. I love the person who shared some of their fiction writing. I need to go back and find that. But, I thought the same thing as Valerie. I hope she shares some of these stories! Look you had your audience at the time would go searching for your work they so badly wanted to read it! So do we!

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  3. I think it is awesome that you still have writings from your childhood. That alone speaks to how you valued your written word. I have nothing, just memories of lots of red adult writing over my words.

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  4. Pull those out and share - they are who you are. What a gift you have to share. Sadly, too many of us only have reminders as Elsie does. Your stories could inspire that one writer to step out and share too.... Thank you for your slice today.

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  5. I think your blog post is insightful about where young writers are at "emotionally" - how important it is to provide a safe community for writing, so that students take risks and "put it out there." What a gift you gave your daughter, to share "vulnerable writer you." Thanks for sharing.

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  6. I loved to read as a child ... and i was one of those sneaky kids that would read anything. I didn't feel comfortable about reading my sisters diary, but I did love to her poems and stories that she wrote. I love that you kept your childhood writings. Precious.


    First Grade Delight
    imgoingfirst@gmail.com

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