The Write Corner/ A Writer's Explanation

I didn't know I was different.


It's ok if you're thinking you've known that for a long time.

"Writers have stories going through their heads all the time. What a strange bunch."
The author was talking to a room of writers.

At every writer's conference I've been to, I've met some very nice people.
Everybody looked pretty normal.
Yet, I heard we were different.
We had stories in our minds.
What seemed odd to me was the thought of people with empty heads -
What, no stories?
How could it be.

I pondered it for quite a while.
But, I had to know
.
One evening after a quiet dinner,
while we were relaxing, watching TV,
I asked my husband, "Do you have stories going on in your head?"

He looked at me, like I'd said, "I've been thinking.
I think I'll grow another head, how about you, don't you want another head?"

He answered, "Ah, no."

I couldn't believe it, so I asked again.
"You don't think of stories as you're driving somewhere, or walking through the grocery store?"

I got the same, "Ah, no."

I was shocked.

I told him how when we stop at red lights, I have a whole story about the person in the car next to us.
When we walk through the mall, I watch people and imagine their stories.
It's what I've always done.

He said, "No wonder you get so tired. Your brain never rests."
Maybe he's right.

My first writer's conference was five years ago.
I've gone to several more since then.
I've met some fascinating people.
It's been wonderful.
We're like family, a lot of us.

It's great.
We get together and talk about those invisible people.
We visit about the murder that happened,
the characters who got married, or left in a huff.

Recently, one of my characters died.
I was so sad, I cried.
I didn't know he was going to die.
My friends understood.
They had experienced similar episodes with their characters.

Writing cuts you off from interacting with real people while you're developing the characters wanting out - the story bursting to be written.

We spend a lot of time in our little corners.
But, it's what we're called to do.
It's part of who we are.

Growing up I enjoyed the musical, Cinderella.
I would imagine with Cinderella as she sang, "In MyOwn Little Corner."

During the past five years I have spent many hours in my little corner,
with gunslingers, detectives, immigrants from the 1860s, soldiers from the Civil War,
and it's all been normal
to me.

I don't know about the rest of the world,
but I know I have friends in my corner.
Some I can see.
Some I can't.

It's good to know
I'm in good company.
After all,
What is normal, anyway.

Have a good day in your own little corner.

 

In My Own Little Corner, sung by Julie Andrews (1957)

Friends

Friends.
We walked in the rain. Drenched. Laughing till we cried.
We ran through leaves in the park, and drove through the country
with the windows down, singing at the top of our lungs.
We sat in the quiet, feeling each other's pain at a friend's funeral.
We shared in the joy of each other's victories, and accomplishments.

You are my friend.
We probably don't see each other every day.
Some of us haven't seen each other in years.
But, the bond that brought us together years ago is just as strong.

Some of us made mudpies together, and played hide-n-seek in the dark.
Some of us played Barbies and roller skated together.
We may have ridden bikes, and spent nights giggling when we should have been sleeping.

There are memories only we share.
The time we drove out of town and your dad had to drive hours to come rescue us.
Or when you helped plan my sixteenth surprise birthday party - how hard you tried to get me there, and I wouldn't cooperate.
Remember how we would meet on the corner under the street light, to exchange clothes and notes?
Or when we watched The Way We Were, and then thought, "We drove out of town for that?!"

We may have danced together, and spent hours working on college publications, or going over lab notes.
Maybe we were the geeks who decided to study when our friends kept knocking on our door inviting us to join the dorm party right outside our room.
Or maybe you were the one who told me I didn't have the flu....it was the fruit wine.
(I said I'd never do that again!)
Friends,
We shared secrets, and knew they were safe.
Sure, we had our moments when we didn't see eye to eye.
But, we always got past those times.

Here we are.


It's been a lifetime now.
We moved on, and married, and worked, and had our separate lives.
We diapered our children, loved, and cheered them on in every endeavor they pursued.
We watched as they drove off to college, got married.
Some have children of their own.

We may have met later in life.
Maybe after a move.
In a new town, or a new direction.
Maybe we text, facebook, write, call, or sit and visit.
Maybe we have lunch every now and then.
Maybe we fly, and drive to see each other.
Or maybe we don't see each other at all.

But, you live in my heart forever,
because you are a part of my life.

Michael W. Smith writes, "A friend's a friend forever."
It's true.
A lifetime's not too long to live as friends.

To all my friends through all my life,
I thank God for every remembrance of you.

Happy Valentine's Day.