"Actually, I'm Already Writing a Novel..."

From time to time, someone will tell me I should write a book. Sometimes, it's in jest. Most often, they're quite serious. How, you might ask, does such a statement come up in conversation? Well, I talk a lot (just in case you haven't picked up on that yet), and I do have a tendency to talk in story format. You know, using the basic plot diagram for fiction - even when the story I'm telling is true.

People say it for other reasons, as well. Some people like the way I talk, the way I...quip. I can be pretty quick-witted on a good day. I also love to people watch and imitate others in speech and body language. It's just something I've always done. I pay attention to the details of what makes people who they are. I also love to read, and I love words. I think it's important how you say things. I believe words have power, and the power of your words should be used wisely. I talk about books and words and tell stories, in general, quite a bit.

I guess when you mix all that stuff together and add in the rest of my personality, maybe I give off an air of...authoress? That's a nice thought (or a wishful one), don't you think? You see, when I get into one of my 'speeches' about words or a good book or how a good book could have been great book with a better editor, someone usually says I should just write my own book. I always smile when they say that. Sometimes, it's a weary smile. Sometimes, it's a knowing one. My verbal response to that statement, when I feel up to it, is usually, "Actually, I'm already writing a novel..."

Truth is, I've been writing a book for the past few years, and I wrote it in my head long before I ever clicked the first letter on my keyboard. I love my book. It is fiction, but the characters are very close and personal to my heart. I know every movement of their faces, every expression. I know how every word sounds when they speak to one another. I know their disappointments and their joys. I know their hopes and dreams...

And I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever actually finish the novel.

I wonder, how will I ever be able to write an ending I'm happy with? I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to look at a final draft and say, "Yes, this is it. I'm done. It's exactly what I want to say. It is the story I've always wanted to tell the rest of the world."

It is a story I want to tell. Actually, it's a story my heart needs to tell. You see, my brain gives words to the story my soul already knows,...and my brain is my harshest critic. And, so, I keep writing and hope that one day my heart and mind agree they're both happy with the end result.

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." ~ Maya Angelou

 

On Writing...

Saying Goodbye

One of the ways I help my students say goodbye at the end of every school year is by helping them understand what their yearbook/annual is for. The first year I taught sixth grade, I noticed that when students got their yearbooks, all they did was sign their names on one another's pages. They had no understanding about the importance of saying goodbye in writing, of sharing their thoughts on paper to mark the end of their sixth grade year, or telling their friends what they meant to them.

I also noticed that my students were always surprised how long it took me to "sign" their yearbooks because it took me awhile to write what I had to say. What I wrote to each student was specific to them, not a general statement. When they read what I'd written, it meant a great deal to them because it showed I really knew them and noticed the things they'd done all year.

After a couple of days of watching how they struggled to understand what they should do, I decided that the best way to explain was by giving examples. I started my own tradition that first year, and I have found that it helps my students to share their thoughts in writing with each other at the end of the year.

Every year I bring in all my high school yearbooks (10th grade - 12th grade), and I show them to my students. I read some of things my friends wrote to me, and I say how much those words still mean to me. Sometimes I tell a story about that friend and something fun we did together, or how we met and became friends. I always point out how even after all these years, the words my friends gave to me back then...are still treasures that make my heart smile. My friends loved me, and I loved them. Time and distance doesn't change the love we shared or the experiences we had together.

My students are always impressed with how well my friends wrote, how funny they were in some of the things they said, and...how my personality and who I am hasn't changed much from the way my friends described me. I sometimes think that is my students' favorite part. They love hearing my friends describe me in the same way they see me. I wasn't a different person at seventeen than I am now. I am older, more mature, and (hopefully) wiser - but I am still me. My students find comfort in that.

This year, when I brought out my yearbooks in class, I realized that my senior annual was now thirty years old. Wow. I hadn't really thought about it until I held it up to my first period class. One of my students pointed out how thirty years is a reeeeeally long time. I had to chuckle. Yes, I suppose it is, but - I pointed out to my students - look how long my friends' words have stood the test of time!

What words, I always ask, would they want someone to look back on in thirty years and be glad they were friends? What words could they say that would reach through time and distance and still make someone's heart smile? It makes them think, it makes them want to write something special to their friends, and it helps them say goodbye to another chapter in their lives.

I do believe that words are a special kind of magic, and I would like to thank all my high school friends for helping me to teach this lesson to my students every year. Most importantly, I want to thank them for sharing their words with me all those years ago. I still treasure what was written and the wonderful friendships we shared! :)

Words, Words, Words!

I love to taste delicious words, don't you? I love learning new words, saying them out loud to feel the power of the words. Words are powerful, you know! Words have built countries and kingdoms,...and they have torn them down. Never underestimate the power of the right words spoken at the right time!

OK, so, what's up with me and 'word love' today, eh? Well, we played with thesauruses in my classroom today, and my students inspired me with their choices. You see, they had to come up with words to describe themselves,...but I told them that I didn't want just any old words, I wanted fabulous words - words that would be hard to resist. You know, the kind you just HAVE to say out loud and see how they taste!

We studied Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" poem, and they are having to make two masks. One mask uses words that describe the "mask" they show to the world (how other people see them). The other mask uses words that describes who they really are on the inside - how they see themselves. We discussed how Dunbar's powerful poem would not have packed such a punch without powerful words like "human guile" and "vile" and "myriad subtleties."

My sixth graders did not disappoint me in their choice of words and, even better, they really had a good time with it! They couldn't believe some of the words they found and how much more wonderful those words were than the "basic" words (the words they usually use that really have very little flavor in them - mad, sad, happy, funny, lazy). They decided it was fun to dump the plain, old, tasteless words and choose some with a little more pizazz! :-D

Here are just a few examples of what they found and used:

lazy: slothful, languorous, lackadaisical

talkative: babblative, loquacious, multiloquious, loose-lipped

funny: jokester, quipster, zany

kind: amiable, gracious, cordial

shy: demure, timid, bashful, coy

brave: dauntless, greathearted, plucky, valiant


The word play today was really amusing, and the students' exuberance over their masks was a splendiferous wonder to behold!

(Yep, I love words...) ;)