Thursday, March 28, 2013

Thursday's Children 3/28/13




A weekly blog hop
where writers come together
to talk about whatever inspires them.

A few days ago I was going through old files and came across a red folder.
Its contents are horrifying. HORRIFYING, I TELL YOU!!
12th grade Creative Writing class papers!
Wow. Just. Wow.
Side bar: How many of you are
zooming in to try and
make out the date? lol
I apologize to Mrs. Royer for having to read that crap. She was very nice and encouraging –one of my favorite teachers.
My writing was pretty minimalistic, not a lot of description or detail. Reading it now, I think, it reads like a kid trying to tell someone a story, but they’re too excited to take a breath. In fact, Mrs. Royer marked run-on’s as my biggest problem. One five page story had 11 of them.  
That story is titled, The Frightening Experience of Chantel DuBois. Yes, I was also taking French. The story is about a woman who witnesses a murder. She believes the murderer got a good look at her and that her life is now in danger. I was going for edge-of-your-seat suspense.

But then, right in the middle of said suspense there is a quite jarring sentence.
Here is a snippet. See if you can find it.
The next morning when she woke up she remembered everything vividly, and hoped it was only a dream.
As she was eating her breakfast there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?" she asked in a shaky voice.
A man replied, "Delivery."
I guess she figured if it was the murderer he would have answered, "The murderer--"
So, she opened the door, and it was the man she saw in the alley. He raised the knife high above his head and came towards her. 


Did you find it? 
The only explanation I have is that I was a big fan of Saturday Night Live, and an all time favorite sketch was Landshark.
If you're too young, and not familiar with Landshark. Click here to watch a clip.

Another story in the folder was about guilt eating away at a boy, until he did the right thing. Hmm, wonder where that came from? A personal demon maybe?

There was also one called, The Last Friday. It's along the lines of an end of the world story, featuring a family running for shelter. I know what spawned this idea.

As a child I was constantly worried about the world ending, or losing all my family and friends. This was a result of a traumatic incident at age 11, that has left me, to this day, with an incredible fear of religion.

I have toyed with the idea of writing a post about what happened. Maybe it would be therapeutic? Maybe it would help others to understand my fear? And just maybe, somehow, the culprits could stumble upon the post and realize how it felt through my eyes?

So ... anyway ... I did find inspiration in these old stories. How about you? Have you ever written about a traumatic experience? Did it help?

One more thing, because I can't end this post sounding like a Debbie Downer.

Here is the opening line from another paper in the folder:

Have you ever had the delightful experience of eating hot chicken wings?

Do with it what you will. lol.








23 comments:

  1. You've left me smiling. I remember land shark and I have my own box of novels I wrote as a teenager. It wasn't until college that I got into writing stories which probably told the professor a lot more about my personal emotional life than they should have.

    The chicken wing line is great.

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  2. LOL yes. I do have a box full of these as well. Those old notebooks with all my old stories. The ones I have are VERY old, though, from primary school!

    They're good for a cringe... and a laugh!

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    1. Primary school? Those must be fun to read!
      Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. How wonderful that you stil have your early work. You could probably learn a lot about your writing process through reading them --aside from the run ons. I've only a couple creative wring papers from school. I wish I had more, but we moved just about every year of my childhood.

    I do have a box of journals from my early 20's and NYC party/nightlife. Almost scared to open that pandora's box--I may not know who that girl is.

    Love reading this--you have in fact inspired me--to dig up the cobwebs of the past. :) Thanks for this post.

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    1. Whoa! Early 20's partying in NYC? I can't even imagine. If it were me, I'd burn those journals. haha!
      Glad I could inspire! Good luck!

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  4. I haven't saved my childhood stories, but my children's inspire me sometimes. And YES I want to read that post about the terrors of religion. I'm guessing it doesn't contain chicken wings, lol. Hope your thumbs are feeling better...

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    1. Thumbs are much better, thank you! :)
      The story does not contain chicken wings. Thank goodness. Or I may not have ever eaten another one. lol.

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  5. Oh my gosh, that's great. I didn't write fiction as a child but wrote scads of poetry, a lot of which I still have. It's so fun (and funny) to read back through it. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I was big into poetry, too! Most of mine is teenage angst. Not so much fun to read through. lol.
      Thanks for stopping by!

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  6. Aw, I loved this post! And the snippet from your story was cute- you weren't a bad writer back then, just super-excited lol! Right now (and perhaps I'm a bit over-dramatic) but I feel like my entire life is a traumatic experience, so every time I write, no matter what the story is about, elements of my life are there. But I have yet to seriously sit down and write a full story about the crappy side of my life. In any case, writing is SO therapeutic, it helps immensely.

    This was an awesome post, thx for sharing! : )

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    1. Thank you so much!
      I have found writing to be therapeutic, but I tend to get lost in my fantasy/paranormal world. So, I guess it makes sense that writing about the "crappy side" of my life would also be therapeutic. Thanks for your help! I will start working on that post.

      Delete
  7. Wow, you're brave! I have submitted a formal request -in writing- to my mother to burn everything I wrote before the age of fifteen.
    Full confession? Didn't try to make out the dates on the pages until you asked. Now I'm searching for my magnifying glass ;-)

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    1. You are too funny!
      And the date was October 1985. I graduated in 1986.
      Thanks for stopping by!

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  8. I wrote stories when I was younger and I have them. You inspire me to get them out and look at them again.

    http://www.miaceleste.com/?p=239

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  9. I wish I'd kept the stories I'd written when I was younger. I do, however, have the poetry. And...YIKES! It's all angstorama all the time. o.O

    I think writing is fantastic therapy. Even if you decide not to post it, you may feel better for having written it out.

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    1. What's that you say? A teen girl's poetry is angsty? Hahaha! How original!
      Thanks for the advice!

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  10. This is great! And I want to read the post too :) Maybe if you write it, it'll inspire more for your stories.

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  11. I thought your 12th grade writing was pretty good! Run-ons just mean you're in the thick of a writing fury and can't be bothered to take a breath. :)

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  12. hot chicken wings? um...pure genius!!!! lol. love it. i wish i'd kept my high school writing, alas, it is long gone.

    i've never written about a personal traumatic experience (well, not blatantly), but in every manuscript are small pieces of me...experiences, things i need to work through, dreams, passions, fears... i don't realize it until after the fact, when i'm analyzing things or re-reading and am like, "oh, huh, there's that..."

    i'm not religious folk and can see how one could be easily traumatized by it under certain circumstances. here's to healing through writing! *clink*

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  13. Aha! I saw the date. Let's hop in a DeLorean pronto! I'm so jealous of your discoveries. I can't wait to go home and raid my parents attic. Thanks so much for sharing! Kristina xx

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