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Today I am in cleaning mode. The goal to completely get the toy room to an acceptable state of cleanliness. It has not been in that state all summer.
As I was going through everything, dragging a garbage bag behind me I happened upon an old wallet insert of pictures from high school. I don't know why my kids have it out and about. I thought, hmm. It's been more than ten years. I don't talk to these people anymore (sad huh?) and I haven't thought about them in a long time. So I'll just throw it away. Of course I had to flip through it.
Some of the people I don't know the names of (really these were boys that dated my not-so-close friends). But since they were pictures of dances. The nights stand out in my memory.
I found a picture of my first boyfriend, and one of my first love (not the same person) and one that reminds me of the time I was the meanest to another person. And another that reminds me of the butterfly feeling of the beginning of a relationship.
I found pictures of friends that I was close to in middle school, but not so much in high school, but who still make me smile when I think about them. I looked at the picture of my best friend in high school, and I'm just so sad that we aren't friends anymore. A lot of miscommunication the summer before I left for college and then the fact that I was really the only one who left and I didn't come back.
After a few minutes, and being tumbled around in the memories and the emotions that came rushing back. I decided to keep it. If anything I can look back at it when I need inspiration for emotions in a story. But ultimately high school had its good times and its bad times. Friends were there the entire time.
Since I write for the Young Adult audience, I think it is important that I'm able to remember the ups and downs and the feelings of being a teenager. The world has changed a lot since I was in high school. It's amazing to think about how much, but I don't think the situations, the relationships and the friendships have. That's what is at the core of a great story. That is what should be at the core of my writing.
How do you use your past to influence your writing?
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5 comments:
Hey there,
I saw your comment over on L. T. Elliot's blog and had to come say hi. :)
I love going through old pictures and having the memories come alive again. And it really is such a great influence on our writing!
BTW - Love the books on your shelfari bookshlef! Great choices!
I think that's a great angle for keeping in touch with your inner high school drama. Once you become an adult,there's just no way to replicate the depth of analysis you and your friends do when your crush says one word to you. "He said 'hey'!" What does that mean. Was it a HEY kind of hey or just a hey?
Anyway. Sorry random reader to your blog. Just wanted to chime in.
I probably relive my highschool days a little too much.
That's exactly why I write for an adult market. I try to avoid remembering how I felt as a teenager. It doesn't just embarrass me. =]
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