by Vonda Skelton @VondaSkelton
I have a feeling I'm not
alone in this phenomenon. What about you? Have you experienced anything
similar? If so, would you share it with us? It could be fun to see where our
stories--whether published or not, whether written or not--originated. We’d
love for you to join the conversation!
TWEETABLES
Letting Life Experiences Flow Through Our #Writing - @VondaSkelton on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Ideas for #writing are often closer than we think - @VondaSkelton on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Vonda Skelton is a speaker and the author of four books: Seeing Through the Lies: Unmasking the Myths Women Believe and the 3-book Bitsy Burroughs mysteries for children 8-12 yo. She’s the founder and co-director of Christian Communicators Conference, offering speakers’ training and community for Christian women called to ministry. Vonda is a frequent instructor at writer’s conferences and keynotes at business, women’s, and associational events. You can find out more about Vonda, as well as writing opportunities and instruction at her writer’s blog, The Christian Writer’s Den at VondaSkelton.com.
A few years ago
my husband and I took our two youngest grandchildren to Cherokee NC to learn
more about our Cherokee heritage. But on our way home that day, I realized I
did more than simply learn dates and historical events. I began to write about
it, at least in my mind. 
Isn't that the
way we are as writers? We go on a simple vacation or go shopping or read a
current event and before we know it, we're contemplating characters, mapping
out plots, scouting locations, capturing events, and creating a world inside
our heads.
- In As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote, "All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players...." I realize now how true that statement is.
- My first mystery for kids was set on Tybee Island (GA) because we went there when I was a kid.
- The second in the Bitsy Burroughs Mystery Series was set on Amelia Island (FL) because my grandchildren lived there at the time.
- And the last in the series, Bitsy and the Mystery at Hilton Head Island (SC), was set on Hilton Head because it had become a family vacation favorite for our us, our adult children, and our grandchildren.
Little did I
know those practical events in life would prepare a stage for my
characters—real or imagined—to enter and exit. After all, I didn't set out to
find locations for children's books. I simply found myself there...and the
characters and their stories began.
Now I'm already
looking forward to doing something with these nuggets of Cherokee ideas, even
if it's not right now. After all, I went to Tybee Island in 1961, but it was
well over 30 years later that I began to write about it.
TWEETABLES
Letting Life Experiences Flow Through Our #Writing - @VondaSkelton on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Ideas for #writing are often closer than we think - @VondaSkelton on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)
Thanks Vonda. I don't write fiction, but I can relate. I am always looking at the circumstances I find myself in to see what lesson God is teaching me. In November, my husband started in-home dialysis. As we struggled through the first month of this process, God revealed many parallels between dialysis and our spiritual walk. I have been blogging about the dialysis process and then sharing the lessons we have learned. I am always amazed at what God can teach me through my circumstances. Thanks again for the reminder to keep my eyes open and my heart turned toward God's leading.
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining in, Sheryl. It's amazing how many details, scenes, and characters we can take from real life and plops right smack in the middle of our fiction. And I'm like you in that my Christian women's non-fiction is full of real life lessons I learned through experiences of life. God definitely leads us to what we need, if we're only looking for it!
DeleteVonda, I agree too. I write about my struggles with compulsive overeating in a blog I posted to for a few years. Then, following my husbands death I It began a new blog for widows. Many of my short stories and flash fiction are based on my life and childhood struggles. It is healing too.
ReplyDeleteJudy
Yes, it is healing, Judy. My current WIP grew from a family experience I had several years ago. The book definitely isn't non-fiction, but many of the lessons and insights came from that experience. Thanks for joining in!
DeleteVonda, this is so true for me. In fact, my most recent release called Love Again was included in a Christmas anthology. That story originated several years ago when we were on vacation in Myrtle Beach. My hubby got our waiter talking about how he ended up there in Myrtle Beach. His story so touched me, I couldn't wait to get back to our room and start writing his story.
ReplyDeleteOh, Paula, don't you love how God orchestrates the details of our writing lives, even to the point of making sure which waiter we get? Of course, He does that with our spiritual lives as well, but the revelation that He plans it all is just amazing! Congrats on your latest release!
DeleteVonda, I agree! Much of life is fodder for our writing, whether fiction or nonfiction. The other morning, I spent a long time cleaning up after a sick dog. Needless to say, I put it in the "rotten morning" category; I was mad at my husband for inadvertently allowing the dog access to eating what made him sick. (I'll spare you the details.) Afterward, as I made my husband's breakfast and lunch, I thought, "This is going to make a great blog post."
ReplyDeleteAfter letting my husband know what had happened, he was so sorry and contrite that I couldn't even be mad at him anymore. He must have felt badly all day, because he came home from work with a dozen pink roses for me. I'd already forgotten about the mess, but he hadn't.
By the way, the dog fully recovered and is back to his usual mischievous self. I can think of dozens of ways to incorporate that story into my writings--that sort of even makes the inconvenience of the mess worth it. (Sort of).
Great insight and application of a difficult experience, Lyneta! When something funny (or not so funny at the time) happens, my family has gotten to the point of saying, "Don't write about that!" But my goodness, what a gift it is to have these ups and downs of life to give us the stories we need for our writing?
DeleteAnd goodness, what a sweet hubby!
Thanks for your post, Vonda. Great insight. What would we do without our grandchildren? Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteOh, Marjorie, is that not the truth? I hate to say it, but I never wrote down the funny things my own kids said. But my goodness, do I get the mileage out of my grandchildren's comments!!! They're woven throughout my writing and speaking. Another reason to praise God for grandchildren, right? Thanks for the reminder for all of us!
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