{ rebirth of a writer }

I used to write all the time. When I was young I wanted to grow up to be a writer--a novelist, more precisely. I started novels left right and center (never finished any, unfortunately) about just about any topic--pesky little brothers, leprechaun villages, and unsung medieval heroes. As I moved into my high school years, I started very thoughtful journals, with observational articles and emotive poetry. The poetry continued through university as it was just about all I could find time to write--I would jot a little ditty as I rode the bus to school, or create some unique similes or metaphors in the margins of my notebooks in a lecture hall. My life as a teacher has seen all but a little of my writing taper off and die. It is ironic that as an English language arts teacher I should not have the time to do any of the reading and writing that I profess to my students has changed and enriched my life. When they say, "Show us some of your poems, Mrs. E!", I realize that I have to delve into a notebook from five years ago to find any of the "good stuff".

Well, I am pleased to announce that I am taking steps to change that!! I have joined Karel's writing club with several other very busy ladies, and we are endeavoring to write weekly even though our lives are horribly busy. The prompt this week was to create a short story containing these three elements: forbidden love, an elephant, and green onions. I am so far at page 11 after only a day and a half (mainly of late weekend nights) of working on my spontaneously thought up story, and I am honestly loving it. I am loving the process, and loving how my characters begin to speak on their own accord, which was a phenomenon I forgot about when writing engaging fiction.

To be honest, I am struggling with the climax and ending right now--which is where I have always had trouble. I explained to Karel that I was always the kid who ended stories with "and then they woke up" so that I didn't have to provide a logical tying together of loose ends. However, none of that cheater's business this time; I will do the thing justice. And so, while Derek sleeps off his exhausting night shift, I will sit with little puppy Kona at my feet and attempt to finish this thing. The deadline is tomorrow anyways.

It feels good and validating to dig up a part of myself that I used to love so much. Perhaps I'll share a teaser with you sometime.