[stylist] need inspiration

[James Canaday M.A. N6YR]

Dear Allison,
please don't be so quick to discount your own experiences as being 
"childish."   first, we all have been children, so that actually can 
be a positive for your story.  if you are indeed writing about a 
child or a young person, then all of us have been there.  you contact 
truths we all have in common, experiences we all can share.  then, 
you take those and braid them into something unique.  did something 
happen when you were singing in the choir that made you laugh?  or 
something that happened that made you cry?  was there a moment during 
your time singing in the choir that you felt the presence of God most 
particularly?
a moment like one of those could make a wonderful story.  was there a 
mixup one day with a choir rob?
once my wife was singing in a church choir.  this church was not so 
formal and all the  choir members  had cups of coffee or tea which 
they brought up into the high choir loft up behind the seated congregation.
my wife was in an animated conversation, and by the way she is blind 
and a soprano.  she waved her hand and swept her coffee cup off the 
choir loft rail in front of her, and the cup fell most of a story 
down to the fround behind the seated congregation.  in those days or 
at that church, the cups were porcelin and not covered.
incredibly, her cup landed right side up, and not a single drop had 
spilled from it!

Allison, you have many wonderful experiences.  was there something 
you learned through hard work?
I'm sure you can write a seven page story.
good luck,
jc
Jim Canaday M.A.
Lawrence, KS

At 12:17 AM 9/19/2009, you wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>This semester, I am taking a creative writing class in college.
>I love to write, but I am more accostumed to writing essays, or 
>newspaper articles.  But for Monday's class, I have to write a short 
>literary fiction story--and by short, my teacher means a minimum of 
>seven print pages--and I have absolutely no idea what to write 
>about.  The textbook says that there are stories all around us from 
>our personal experiences, to things we hear about in the paper that 
>can make a story.  But do you think I can recall meaningful personal 
>experiences when I need to? Experiences that I can think of (school, 
>being blind, singing in choir), seem too childish for this kind of 
>class based on the other stories the teacher has assigned for us to 
>read, and all I see in the news is stories about the economy and the 
>war, nothing that has sparked a story.  So I was wondering how do 
>you writers find ideas for a story? If you are writing a story based 
>on a personal experience, how do you develop it into a seven page 
>story when thinking back on the experience, you have no idea how to 
>make a real story out of it, no matter how profound it may be to you?
>Any advice you could give me would be wonderful.
>Allison Nastoff
>
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