Thursday, May 29, 2008
Owed to the Reader
Haverhill Ohio is a speck on the map, if you blink once while driving through you’ll miss the entire town. There is no stop light, only a post office and a church situated in a wide place in the road. It’s a flat rural town located on the banks of the Ohio River. A two-lane road divides the town. On each side of the road is flat farmland, often dotted with a lone John Deere tractor driven by a local farmer hoping for a decent planting season. The town’s economy is poor, only driven by a local coke plant, and a chemical plant that has recently announced that it will close in a matter of months.
I grew up in this town. I often wonder why I stayed when there is so much more in any direction over the county line. I live here because I was raised in this town with strong family values, and I have the desire to raise my son in the same atmosphere. The only problem is that sometimes I feel as if the world is moving on without me.
Most people who live here view life outside the town on a TV screen, and we all know how skewed that vision can be. With reality shows setting the precedence in the Neilson Ratings, people have a warped view of the world and reality.
I can remember the first eye roll I received when I told someone I was writing a book. I’ve discovered it was the first but definitely not the last. The majority of my friends and family know I am a writer. They have always been supportive of my writing, but I’ve found a select few beyond that circle, who think I’m wasting my time. They think I have a very weird hobby. I don’t have a problem with this line of thinking; life is too short to be hung up on perceptions.
My ambition is to connect with people in small towns just like mine. I want to make a difference in their lives by allowing them to relate to the characters that I create. Isn’t writing about transformation? We develop characters who overcome conflicts throughout the course of our stories.
If we can fix a character, can’t we fix a reader too?
Can we give a reader hope that if they make a different choice, their life can be better? Can we help them see that even in extenuating circumstances love can persevere? Can we show them through words that they aren’t alone, that people in this world are hurting just as they are, and sometimes for the same reasons? Sometimes the only happy ending a person receives is the one they experience through reading.
I want to provide a happy ending for someone struggling to find a light at the end of a dark tunnel. I want to give the gift of an escape after a long stressful day. I want to whisk someone away from a loveless marriage and give him or her hope that love is still alive in the hearts of those willing to take a risk. But most important, I want them to enjoy the journey.
I know I’m highly optimistic, but isn’t that part of the foundation for a successful writer? It’s always been my nature to fix a person, which explains my present career. However, this time it’s different. Instead of fixing individuals through the science of medicine, I want to make a difference through words in a story.
I may have a rural existence, but my vision stretches far beyond the confines of a small town.
Have you ever received an eye roll when telling someone you’re a writer? Do you think as a writer that you have the ability to make someone’s life better? What do you wish to convey to your readers?
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25 comments:
Great topic! My last 2 things feature people who were foolish, impulsive, desperate and sinned accordingly. I'm having fun straightening them out, and want the reader to know you can make mistakes, but mistakes don't have to make you.
I have received a couple of eye rolls, but I haven't told many beyond my family and a few close friends that I'm writing. I hate that people think it's a silly way to spend time. I'm not sure how writing a book is a more frivolous way to spend my time than watching TV, but if I told people I spent 2 hours each night watching tv, they wouldn't bat an eye. But, if I mention using that same time for writing, they feel free to don their judging hats.
Whatever, maybe others should reevaluate their hobby choosing if they feel comfortable scoffing at mine. *GM grumbles, full of righteous indignation and muttering to herself.*
PS. Great blog, Lisa!
Great comment Maggie! "Mistakes don't have to make you." Exactly. Overcoming mistakes and rising above diversity makes a person and a strong character.
Thanks Marnee!
I would much rather write than watch TV any day. *eye roll* *g*
Lisa: of course, you'd rather write...you only get three channels where you live, right? *teasing grin*
I doubt my books will change any of my readers' thinking. At this point, I'll glad if they get to read any of them. Though I suppose my lack of willingness to change Lucifer to a "lesser demon" is proof that yeah, I do want to change how people think with my fiction. (Will I succeed? I suspect if I did manage to get it published, I'd get more "You're f***ing crazy!" rather than "Cool, that's so right." Actually I'm likely to get "Burn in hell, blasphemer." That's much more likely.)
But yeah, I think the theme of my books revolves around forgiveness...but also, you don't have to be the person everyone has perceived you, labeled you. You can be the person you know you are: loveable, wonderful, one-of-a-kind, and bold. I think everyone should be bold. Take a chance on yourself BOLD. (When you grow up in a small town, I think the labels come quick, but also: stay forever. In NYC, you have a greater chance of your neighbors switching out and eventually no one knowing your past.)
But I don't write this theme for other readers. I see myself in this theme. This is my sort of therapy, as if I write it often it enough, it'll sink in and happen for me. If I can show other characters overcoming their obstacles and being great (and loved), then so will I--if I too will be bold. If other readers get that, awesome...but I'm having a piece of the cake first.
The real truth if I didn't have cable I would only get one channel. When my DH and I were dating we always had to go to my house to watch TV because I got three channels and he only had one at his house. It was such a bummer...
H- Always have your peice of cake first, and I totally understand the mentality of subliminal reading and writing. Read it and it will all fall into place, what a nice thought. Really I would feel satisfaction knowing that I made a person smile or sigh. Sighs are BIG in my book.
My DH rolls his eyes at me all the time. "You're not a writer! You don't make any money at it!" My "hobby" is taking over my life. Which is NOT true! I don't enjoy TV since they keep taking my shows off- (Hello! You take away Blood Ties and now you've taken away Moonlight! Next it will be Criminal Minds and I will have to stick needles in my eyes.) The DH is a TV watcher, mindlessly flipping through channels for hours on end while I peck away at my letterless keys.
I'm a little of everything in my writing. I write because it's fun and gets me out of the same old muldane routine everyday. I can experience things through my characters eyes that I would never be able to do myself. And I have the ability to control something. And I'm a big control freak.
I just want readers. To be able to give someone a book they can't put down for hours until they finish it. That's my ultimate goal.
From Dictionary.com:
writ·er –noun
1. a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
2. a clerk, scribe, or the like.
3. a person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing: an expert letter writer.
4. (in a piece of writing) the author (used as a circumlocution for “I,” “me,” “my,” etc.): The writer wishes to state….
5. a person who writes or is able to write: a writer in script.
6. Stock Exchange. someone who sells options.
7. Scot. a lawyer or solicitor.
There are plenty of parts of this definition that have nothing to do with mone and everything to do with communicating the musings of one's soul. Silly Mattycakes, he's just not enlightened to such things, it seems. LOL!
that would be money, not mone, which I don't even believe is a real word. (off to check dictionary.com again...
Alas, it is a word.
Mone\, n. The moon. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
Who knew?
That's because the Dictionary is not available on NBC or CBS. If it was, he'd probably watch it.
Don't worry, Sin. My Dad scoffs at me. Not too loudly anymore...after all, a MIRACLE might occur and this might bring in some money. Also, if I fail at it long enough, I'll decide to go back to school and become a teacher. Hope spring eternal for that man.
Mattycakes is very silly. Like I've said before. If I ever make any sort of money, I'm going to pretend I got it off of the street corner turning tricks before I tell him I got money writing. That'd be something he'd actually believe.
Ooh, my favorite question from Mattycakes is:
"Why don't you ever write about me? I'd make one helluva hero."
To which I reply:
"I do honey. Remember that scene I was telling you about?"
"Yeah." He's all excited at this point. Like a puppy.
"Well, you're goon number two."
"Didn't you have him get zapped in the balls with a stun gun?"
"Yeah, but they are only fictional balls."
Marn- you're all about the dictionary today babe.
You're gonna be successful. I know you will Hellion.
It is important to be clear, don't you think? LOL!
I loved your conversation with Matt. LOL!!
Great blog Lisa! I get the eye roll a lot. It came out during a faculty meeting this year that of the six of us in the department, three were writing a novel. This produced a lot of eye rolling from the other three, and even a pen being flung down on the table. LOL.
But I'm the same way - I'd way rather write than watch TV (except for Bones - I can't skip Bones). Usually I wear headphones to drown out the TV, but the DH just got ahold of Grand Theft Auto 4 (I wasn't nearly as excited about this as he was). But it's come to my attention now that I write very well with the sound of gunfire, sirens, gang wars, and hookers in the background. Who knew?
I wear headphones too but usually my iTunes are pulled up.
Love that you write well to GTA4 in the background. We haven't got it yet, but I see it in our near future. When I get stressed out we pull out the old Nitendo 64 and put in 007. Nothing like busting a cap in my DH's ass. LOL
Marn- We can never be clear enough! Though, I just make up words. It's fun and it frustrates the hell outta Mattycakes.
And that conversation is only a straw in the haystack of our normal conversations.LOL
Sin- LOL Fictional balls I love it:)
Mattycakes would make an interesting hero for sure. But if it made ou successful you wouldn't be able to fit in the house for his swelled head:) Men are so gooofy.
Marn you really are into the dictionary today. Thanks for all the definitions. You know I'm a whore for words.
Hal- Thanks Babe! I admit when the Tudors or The Bachelorette are on the TV is on, and I write during commercials or not at all. Wish I could do the music thing but I can't.
I admire anyone that can teach- but I could never do it. Give me blood and guts anyday.
*LAUGHING* OMG, I can so hear this conversation... "You're goon number 2"--God, you two are mean as snakes. It's so funny to watch.
LOL. I know. It's terrible.
Not.
He took pity on me last night since I was so tired I couldn't stay awake. We only did "You wanna know how I know your gay" only three times. Slow night in the put downs in our house.
A very thought provoking blog, Lisa. What an interesting take you have on writing. You write to give people Hope? To show others that they are not alone in their pain?
So you view your role as a writer in a very humanitarian and… dare I say… very philanthropic light?
You have a goal that goes far beyond the need or desire to tell a story.
Or to make a buck.
Interesting.
I would have to say that you are at once humbly unpretentious … and sublimely expansive in your views. Oh, I wish you all of the luck in the World in getting published. So that you can find an appreciative audience for your work.
AND
God bless you … because you are writing for all of the Right reasons.
*HUGS JULIE* I love when Julie comes by!!!
something to think about
For anyone who has ever wondered about the value of their “hobby.”
A Quote from
Katherine A. Gleason’s “Discovering the Goddess Within”
“Do you hide your true light in a cave? Many women choose to pretend that they are not as powerful, as smart, or as beautiful as they really are. As Marianne Williamson has written in her book A Return to Love: Reflections on A Course in Miracles (Harper Collins, 1992), "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us." Do you let your light shine?”
Do you?
Julie- Thank you for stopping by and lending some very thought provoking comments. The quote is beautiful and fits perfectly with the premise of my blog. Katherine Gleason is a true Goddess.
In answer to your earlier questions when I write I always try to produce a conflict or obstacle that any woman could face. I especially like to tackle self esteem issues because it's close to home for me. I want that connection with the
reader that I always find the most rewarding when I read. I love to read a heroine that is real and vulnerable but has enough spunk to be tough as nails when push comes to shove. I guess I feel if a reader takes the time out of their day to read my book they deserve to be entertained as well as provoked by thought.I want them to feel better about something in their life when they close the cover.
I can finally leave a comment. Hopefully, third times a charm.
I'm writing just to write. And if one person reads my story, then after reaching the end gives a little sigh and a smile, then I'll be happy. Now, if I were to ever get a note from a reader who said they could relate to my heroine or shared a similar story and felt better after reading my book, every bit of stress and struggle would be totally worth it.
Love the quote, Julie. You're always shining. And we thank you for spreading a little light on this ship.
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