Message to Creative Folks Out There

I read my story, Hard-Hearted, to my writing group, Red Oak Writing, today and made myself laugh.

The preposterousness of a cement block sentry coming to live inside a woman’s house and then getting her head knocked off because she ran her mouth too much was just delicious. So I laughed and the group laughed (when they weren’t shaking their heads), and it all reminded me that writing can be tremendous fun.

I’ve lived with Marigold McAdams and her sentry, Amy, for a couple of weeks. They’d show up at dawn asking pesky questions about who was going to do what next. And I’d puzzle over it. They’d come back while I was walking the dogs. What the heck was I going to do with Amy in the kitchen?

Lately, on social media, there are a lot of triumphant knitting photos, first-time and experienced knitters modeling their sweaters, and I think how did they accomplish that design? I figure they read the directions a dozen times, got up to make tea, reread the instructions, called their knitting friend, and then they just let their fingers fly and the knitting took over.

That’s what happens with joyful writing. The writing takes over. In this case, Marigold knew the moment that Amy went too far, and she knew exactly what to do next. I just described what was inevitable. No plot line, nothing planned in advance, just an old woman and her cement block intruder getting into it.

I didn’t worry about how the story would turn out because I knew my writing group would give me a soft landing no matter what. That’s a pretty precious thing. If you’re a writer and you don’t have that, you are suffering the pain of your own harsh reviews, and the fault-finding will roll around in your head like a marble in a bare room.

Get with people who will laugh at your preposterousness, who will admire your knitted sweater, understand your pride in accomplishment and handle you sweetly like the dear, creative person you are. That’s my advice.

Marigold and Amy would agree.