Three Thing Thursday

Cheryl:

Since Mother’s Day is coming up, I thought it would be a good time to write about my mom.

I can honestly say that without my mom, I would never have become a writer. Books were a constant in our home. She read to me every day until I could read to myself. She took us to the library every week. And most of all, she read books herself, making time to read a priority. Literature mattered. I learned that a well-written novel can change a life, and one life can change the world.

When I got older, she always encouraged my creativity. She would read every stupid story I cobbled together and and then praise it like it was a contender for the Pulitzer. No matter how busy she was, she always had time to dissect and analyze books we’d read or movies we’d watched.

Above all, she made me feel like I mattered. Mom would tell me specifically the things that made me special. She never missed an opportunity to buoy me up and strengthen me. My weaknesses weren’t failures, just areas for growth. I always knew that no matter what, no matter how, she believed I would do amazing things.

As I grow older, she has only grown more essential in my life. She comes over every day to help me with the kids so I can have time to write and read and pursue my passions. Her patience and love are endless.

Can I ever become a mother like her? I don’t know. But I do know that I am blessed to have such an amazing role model to learn from.

Carol:

Following what my sweet Cheryl is talking about–Mother’s Day.

Some of you know my mom was ill my whole childhood.

I still deal with lots of things that went on then. Much of that winds up in my novels as I try to make sense of it all.

However,

Mom told me two positive things about myself. I’ll share one.

She told me I could write.

And I believed her.

She filled our house with books.

We discussed books.

She took me to plays.

We talked about what made a story live and breathe.

She read what I wrote and laughed in the right places. I still remember what she said to me after I wrote a short story when I was 15. “Carol. You are a natural writer.”

A natural writer.

A natural.

It was the highest compliment she ever gave me.

As writers we are the ‘mothers’ and ‘fathers’ of our books.

Do we allow our characters to form as they should?

Support them to become alive and powerful and vulnerable?

Do we give them opportunity to grow and fail and make both good and bad decisions?

Some people believe our struggles in life, and the way we live through them, shape us.

While I still (sometimes) cry about my early life, and then my married life, I am now mostly grateful. I had words. Maybe I didn’t get to use them then, but I can now.

So happy Mother’s Day, my Friends.

I love you.

Brenda:

In Writing Down the Bones, Natalie Goldberg noted that her students had been doing what she calls “practice writing” — some of them for as long as three years. So one night, she asked them, “Where do you want to go with writing? You have this strong creative voice; you’ve been able to separate out the creator and the editor. What do you want to do with it?” Then she told them that “There comes a time to shape and direct the force we have learned.”

Then she re-couched her words: “What are your deep dreams? Write for five minutes.”

My suggestion, added to her exercise, would be not to limit yourself to five minutes. If you find yourself on a roll, keep going until you’re out of the “dreams” for your immediate writing future. What do you want? What do you really, really want?

Write for ten minutes. Or thirty. Or an hour and a half.

Then, follow through with a plan, and figure out how you’ll achieve that Deep Dream!