How do any of my stories come to be? My first vision is like a mound of clay. In one case, I first envisioned a tree. I have always loved trees. Even when I was little, I loved to hug a tree, or stare at a tree and just wonder what all it has witnessed. If I saw a hollow place in a tree trunk, I would sit in there, even as an adult. I was in awe of how the tree could make me feel protected. But there was one tree in particular that I came to love. That was the enormous live oak tree my husband grew up with. I knew someday I would write about that tree. I just needed to give the story time to develop. But realizing the tree would be the foundation of the story was when it became my mound of clay.
What would the story be? I would ask myself that question while gardening or on a walk. I did not stress about it I just let the thoughts emerge. When I least expected it, ideas would pop in my head; maybe while I was digging in the dirt or pulling weeds. Maybe another idea would come to me while I was sitting on the porch watching the rain roll in. Words or phrases would appear. I knew I wanted generations witness the tree’s growth. I collected those words and phrases into a “word salad”. Let me step back and explain what I mean by word salad.
At this stage of my process, each word or phrase is both a specific term potentially to be included in my story and a placeholder for a potential theme, idea, or scene. One word might open up and entire scene!
A sculptor knows that a human head will have ears, a nose, eyes and a mouth. She shapes her vision, discarding and adding different shapes of those and other elements to make different expressions and images until she is satisfied. My word salad for each story is my collection of elements. I choose, use, toss out and massage them – editing. Editing shapes the mound of clay that was my starting vision into a story.
For this story, the word salad started to appear, grandparents, great grandparents, acorn, patience, seasons and love. Then the character … what should his name be? I figured the main character would be a boy since the inspiration for the story was based on my son imagining adventures on his tire swing in our backyard.
I chose the name Charlie because my husband’s middle name is Charles, and I included Charlie in the word salad, along with the tire swing.
I continued to think and do other things until finally the mound of clay was forming in my mind with the help of the various words in my word salad. One day, I was sitting at the kitchen table in my in-law’s home, looking at that big live oak tree. I watched a hawk fly to and from its nest. Later, I watched the squirrels having fun running up and down and along the tree branches.
That evening, I went out and just walked around the tree. I imagined my husband as a little boy climbing the tree with his friends. I took pictures of the tree and the various creatures that called the tree home. My story dawned on me. YES - I had a story in mind.
The story would show how did the oak tree grew so large. Grandpa would tell the story to his grandson Charlie. As I began writing with the help of my notes (word salad), my mound of clay was taking shape.
I hoped a young reader or the person reading the story to their loved would enjoy discovering the how the tree flourished alongside the family. I hoped the story would spark conversations about their own family history, and most importantly, spark their imagination.
Although I knew I had a good story to tell, my first efforts to write the story were hard and not very productive. But then, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and I did not even need to look at my notes. I just had the story. I sat down in my special place for writing and began typing away. When I finally finished, two hours had flown by. I had finished the first draft of Charlie and the Tire Swing.
As I went back to sleep, I knew that, over the days to come, I would repeatedly edit the story until I was ready to test it out.
After more editing, I read it to some family members and listened to their views. I read it to nieces and nephews, and they told me what they liked. I went back to my story and polished it. Now for sure it was ready for the publisher and the story; Charlie and the Tire Swing was born.
Today I still think of my story ideas as mounds of clay. Maybe it is because I enjoyed making mud pies when I was little. I remember making up stories once my mud pies took shape. I would tell my stories to my little white kitten called Angel and she would patiently listen. Finally, she would meow and be ready for some water or a little snack. I encourage you to take a mound of clay and create your own story. We all have a story inside of us.
Find out more at https://diannfloydboehm.com/.
The RV Book Fair 2024 Special.
Article published in The Relatable Voice Magazine - November 2024. Downolad the full magazine at:
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