Posted Aug 18, 2004 by Barton
Angelface,
Please add the words, "I think" to everything I write here and please remember that *what* I think is only important if it seems to help you in some way.
The story you are telling is too important to be concerned about how well it is written. Tell your story. Tell all your story.
Once you have it all down, then, if you still feel the need, you can begin to shape and sculpt what you have written to make it flow and to make it say something more than the telling of the events.
The hard part about writing any 'story', is remembering that you are talking about people and what they *all* had happen to them while their lives were happening. You may be surprised to discover that you really don't know what actually happened even when it comes to what you remember having happened to you.
Don't worry about your spelling right now. Don't worry about how well you are writing. Don't worry about being believed. Don't worry about being fair, complete, balanced, or good. Start by being honest.
Once you have all *your* story told, then you can decide if you want to use it to 'write a story'. That is, 'writing a story' is about getting someone else to be interested in what you have written because it is important to *her* or *him* in some way. You write stories for other people to read. You are their servant, in this sense.
You must also decide if you want this to be a 'true' story or if you want to make it up, based on your 'honest' experiences, for the sake of making a 'better' story for other people.
There are many different kinds of stories; histories, fiction, fantasy, morality tales, simple informative writing, journalism, and so on. The difference is ultimately in what you are trying to achieve by your act of writing.
It isn't simple, any more than your life has been. It isn't over, any more than your life is. It won't be made better by the telling, any more than telling it will make it not to have happened.
The difference is what you can *do* with what tools your life (not a story at all) has given you, as much by what you received and overcame as by what was taken away and what was distorted.
Remember that the lens you see the world through is shaped by all of your life and the real trick is to find out what it looks like to those around you. The world is not merely what *you* see, you are not alone.
What you have written so far tells me that you have much to say. It tells me that there is nothing to judge yet. It tells me that if you start out by being worried about how well you say it, you will never be able to say it all. Saying it all is more important than saying it well. Saying it all or not saying it will make the most difference in how the rest of your life unfolds ... at least, that has been the case for me and my story.
The scientists tell us that we can't remember pain, but I say, we can never forget how much it hurt or how much it bothered us not to know why it was happening and why it was happening to us.
Take care. Grow strong. Grow better.
Barton
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Posted Aug 18, 2004 by thegrinchsoffspring
thankyou ever so much
luv angelface
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