Wednesday, February 5, 2014
The first Wednesday of the month is time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group or IWSG, started by Alex J. Cavanuagh. I missed last month partly due to a new computer, a lap top, which I've never had before and subsequently, a big learning curve. To read other submissions in this blog fest or hop or whatever you want to call it go here.
I've been thinking about the over used cliche, Is your glass half....and you know the rest.
Most of us reading these posts are writers in various genres. When we begin a new story we also develop characters for our stories. How much of this cliche do you consider? Is your character a pessimist or an optimist? How does their glass affect the other characters and the over all tone of the story? What about your own life? How do the people you interact with on a daily basis affect you and therefore, affect your writing?
My mother is 92 years old and has dementia. An interesting phenomenon that occurs with this illness is that the happy memories are brought into clearer focus for them. This means that if there is a memory that may have previously brought out some other emotion, it may be (not always) that the person will remember only the good. Why am I telling you this in reference to the glass thing?
When I was a child a teacher switched me from my left hand to my right hand and gave me a learning disability. I wasn't learning. The school wanted my mother to institutionalize me. She taught me phonics and spent a lot of time with me so that I was able to overcome this problem. From my mother's perspective this was a terrible thing and stressed her out a lot. She used to say quite often, "There's something not right with Nancy." I heard that so much that I was held back by those words as much as I was held back by my learning disability that really went away as soon as I could read.
In this case, my mother's half empty glass affected who I became as an adult. On the one hand, she was there for me, but also her attitude limited me.
Recently when I went to visit her she said, "When I told the doctor what they (the school) said about you. (Inferring that the school thought I was mentally disabled.) He (the doctor) laughed. He said you were a brilliant child."
I am 62 years old and I have never heard this before in my life. What a difference this would have made to my self esteem and confidence if I had been told as a child that I was brilliant instead of something was wrong with me.
I strongly believe that when we interact with others we need to bear in mind what we do and say. Likewise, do I want a half empty hero? Or one who may face obstacles, may even stumble, but comes out a better person for it. It's okay to scar your characters, but as a reader, life is hard enough without ending in quick sand.
Of course, you may totally disagree with me. I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment.
The first Wednesday of the month is time for the Insecure Writer's Support Group or IWSG, started by Alex J. Cavanuagh. I missed last month partly due to a new computer, a lap top, which I've never had before and subsequently, a big learning curve. To read other submissions in this blog fest or hop or whatever you want to call it go here.
I've been thinking about the over used cliche, Is your glass half....and you know the rest.
Most of us reading these posts are writers in various genres. When we begin a new story we also develop characters for our stories. How much of this cliche do you consider? Is your character a pessimist or an optimist? How does their glass affect the other characters and the over all tone of the story? What about your own life? How do the people you interact with on a daily basis affect you and therefore, affect your writing?
My mother is 92 years old and has dementia. An interesting phenomenon that occurs with this illness is that the happy memories are brought into clearer focus for them. This means that if there is a memory that may have previously brought out some other emotion, it may be (not always) that the person will remember only the good. Why am I telling you this in reference to the glass thing?
When I was a child a teacher switched me from my left hand to my right hand and gave me a learning disability. I wasn't learning. The school wanted my mother to institutionalize me. She taught me phonics and spent a lot of time with me so that I was able to overcome this problem. From my mother's perspective this was a terrible thing and stressed her out a lot. She used to say quite often, "There's something not right with Nancy." I heard that so much that I was held back by those words as much as I was held back by my learning disability that really went away as soon as I could read.
In this case, my mother's half empty glass affected who I became as an adult. On the one hand, she was there for me, but also her attitude limited me.
Recently when I went to visit her she said, "When I told the doctor what they (the school) said about you. (Inferring that the school thought I was mentally disabled.) He (the doctor) laughed. He said you were a brilliant child."
I am 62 years old and I have never heard this before in my life. What a difference this would have made to my self esteem and confidence if I had been told as a child that I was brilliant instead of something was wrong with me.
I strongly believe that when we interact with others we need to bear in mind what we do and say. Likewise, do I want a half empty hero? Or one who may face obstacles, may even stumble, but comes out a better person for it. It's okay to scar your characters, but as a reader, life is hard enough without ending in quick sand.
Of course, you may totally disagree with me. I'd love to hear your thoughts so please leave a comment.
