the writing bug

Inspiration. Perspiration. Writing. Hmmmmm.  My creative writing bug has been absent from my life for a few years now. That itch to put words onto 'paper' has been soothed by the amount of writing I do for the Friends. It seems I am in a constant state of sending emails regarding our mission to fellow members or to the local newspapers or to the other nonprofit groups in our area. When I'm not working on those projects, I read and I read a lot. 

This is not to say that my writing muse has flown away for more fertile grounds. No, she is still alive and kicking. Story ideas, characters and plots are always rattling around in my head. I just haven't had the drive to jot those ideas down.

But, someone else in my family has been bitten by the bug and has the drive to do something with what her muse is giving her.  The oldest showed me the beginning of a story she is working with, a YA fiction piece. She had written the first few pages longhand at school during a study hall and over the weekend, typed those words into her computer. She did some editing, some tweaking and then asked me to read it.

What a voice that kid has! I was impressed.  She has a concept for a nice story. As we discussed what she had written, she realized she had a lot of plotting yet to do, but she had some general ideas on how to flesh out the larger story arc. Yesterday she came home and discussed back story with me and how best to incorporate those bits of information without just dumping them.

Does she have a natural flair for storytelling? It is too soon to tell, and having natural ability does not mean work isn't required. She has listened to me talk about writing and about books for years. She has floated in and out of rooms where my writing friends and I discuss plots, characters and stories.  She has learned at school how to analyze a novel, how rhetorical devices work and why the ebb and flow of action can make or break a plot. We've talked about why we love certain books and loathe others. We've talked about using concrete words and creating hard hitting, real images.

I'm interested to watch as she wrestles with this story concept and begins to work at putting those thoughts down.