Why Do You Write?

My students know that I am a follower of Bobbie Christmas, editor, and writer. She is one of the most astute people on the subject of writing that I know. I subscribe to her free newsletter and save every one of them for future reference. 

In a recent blog post, Bobbie answers questions from writers. She answers with a question of her own. Why do you write?

https://www.zebraeditor.com/blog/writing/

That is a good question to ask yourself if you are a beginning writer or if you have been writing for a while but are not sure what you want to write, who you are writing for and what you want to say. Successful writers make plans. They outline a book or have an idea of the ending before they write the first sentence.

When writing a memoir, I suggest the writer keep in mind the audience he expects to have for his book. When I wrote my family history, Profiles and Pedigrees, Descendants of Thomas Charles Council, I knew this book was for the Council family. I knew that the descendants of Thomas Charles and his ten children would be the people who would read this book. I have been very pleased when others have read it and found it interesting as well.

The memoir I am writing about my own life is for my family as well, but I hope it carries a theme that will appeal to others. What is my story? What theme will thread through the book or books? When writing memoirs one doesn't have to put it all in one book. In fact, I like to write about various parts of my life that are relatable to the lives of others. My childhood growing up in the deep south on a farm in the 1950s is like historical writing to most people alive today. What makes my life unique is my family, my place in my family, my father's illness, four much older brothers, my sister, 15 years older than I, and my baby sister. The setting for this memoir is a 125-acre farm in deep south Georgia. My stories are about the relationships with my parents and my siblings, my love for pets, especially horses, and all the years I longed for my own horse, but could not have one. A horse just for me to ride was a ridiculous idea that would cost far too much. 

I hope I can write this story well enough that my readers will feel the emotion stirring in them, will hope that this child will someday have that pony she dreams about. I want my readers to understand that no one was punishing me. They just looked at it from a monetary viewpoint. "A horse eats as much as a cow. But the cow can be sold for a profit or killed for meat for the family."

So, I hope I can hook readers and they will find my stories interesting. 

As I plan to teach a class in March for the Carl Sandburg Home Historic Site, I want to motivate and inspire the students to write and know why they write.  

We all have unique stories to tell. What is your story and who are your readers?

Writing about our lives, our families and ourselves

Today is Sunday already. I slept most of Saturday. I needed the rest from the chronic pain I seem to live with daily now.

But I am working on getting it under control. I have a writing class coming up on April 30, Tuesday at 2:00 PM. This is a memoir class sponsored by ICL, the Institute of Continuing Learning at Young Harris College.

ICL has been around for a number of years and they engage talented instructors in varied subjects that teach classes for adults, most of them retired people who live in our area. I have learned from some excellent teachers there, and I have taught several times as well.

Once an older adult told me, "My grandchildren think I grew up when people traveled in covered wagons, so I decided I needed to write about what my life was like."

I have been told, "I don't know how I can write about seventy years of life. It is just too overwhelming!"

That is why I help my students write about the most important parts of their lives and they can take it one small part at the time. You know the old saying How do you eat an elephant? One bite at the time.

When I wrote my family history book, I decided to write about my grandfather and grandmother and their ten children. I told the stories of each one of them in a few pages, and then I added the genealogy of each of them. They were not rich or famous, but their lives were examples of rural life in the late eighteen hundreds and early twentieth century in north Florida and south Georgia.

My grandfather, Tom Council, was born in 1858, a short while before the Civil War began. His father served in the war and was taken prisoner. They lived in a rural area south of Tallahassee, Florida. Everyone in the family worked in the fields on the farm.

Tom's first child, a girl, was born in 1878 or 1879. His first son, born in 1883, died at the age of 14 from malaria. He is buried at the Council Cemetery in Wakulla County Florida.

The family moved up to south Georgia after John Henry died and the other children had a completely different life. The cotton mills were being built in the south by men from the north. Since there were no child labor laws at the time, all of the children in the family worked in the mill. The girls enjoyed their new life much better than working on the farm. In their teens, they married and began families. 

In the 1920s, Florida began booming with growth and drew most of the family members to the Tampa area. All of my father's brothers and sisters ended up down there. I still have many cousins in the Sunshine State.

I was so fortunate that my mother and my cousins told me their stories. I had to edit most of them and tried to include only the most interesting parts for my readers. 

Now I am working on writing about my brothers and sisters and my parents. Each one of them has a story that is unique and interesting. I hope I do them justice.

My mission in teaching is to help my students create interesting nonfiction narratives while including the facts in their lives or the lives of their family members. We can only do our best to tell the truth as we know it and remember it because no two people will remember exactly the same things. 

I look forward to my classes, hearing the stories written by my students and helping them create the best narrative they can. We write short pieces that I use to teach the basics in writing. 

My classes are listed on www.glendacouncilbeall.com under Studio Classes and Off site Classes. I am so pleased when students write to me and tell me how much they enjoy our time together.