Do I Have to Wear a Label?

Many writers are identified by one genre. Some are poets and that is all they write. Some are novelists. Some write only creative non-fiction.

I like to write it all -- fiction, non-fiction and poetry. I also enjoy interviewing people and writing about what they have to say. I write passionately about subjects like indoor air pollution and multiple chemical sensitivity. I probably write more personal essays than anything.

So, am I a writer? A poet? A journalist? A memoirist? 

Do I have to be put into a box? Do I have to wear a label like a box of spaghetti on the shelf? 

In recent weeks I've published a review of a novel, an interview with a writer, and I have interviewed another writer. I am in the  process of finding the best home for that piece now.

Almost everyday I write a post for one of my blogs. These posts seldom have anything to do with poetry, but at times I will publish a poem on one of my blogs because it is short and because I want to share it. And sometimes I have a poem that seems to fit with my subject for that day. 

However some people think of me simply as a poet. I wear many hats in my life. I am a writer, a blogger, a poet, a teacher, a mentor, a business owner, a volunteer. Some people refer to me as a publicist at times. 

Variety makes anything more fun, I believe. I have been asked, "Can I write creative non-fiction and write poetry as well?"

Of course you can. At a recent reading at John C. Campbell Folk School, I read a true story, a memoir, and had many compliments from my audience. I also read one or two poems that evening. 

My friend, Estelle, says she tends to write poetry when she wants to express serious feelings and emotions. She finds that memoir helps her tell about her family, her past, her history. But short stories are her path to share humor. Another friend, Mary Mike, writes touching poetry that lingers in the mind of the reader, but her short fiction is memorable as well.

I might sit down to write and find that my subject lends itself to personal essay better than to poetry. I might begin to write a non-fiction piece and find that I'd rather embellish it and make it a short story (fiction).

If you look, you will see that I have published short stories, personal essays, articles in magazines and newspapers, memoir, and poetry. I like to do it all.

Below see where some of my short stories and memoir pieces are published in magazines, journals and anthologies:

How We Met – Forks in the Road -Anthology
Reunion – Reunions Magazine
Tar, Tallow and Prayer -- Moonshine and Blind Mules and other Western North Carolina Tales, 2006
Confrontation  --Muscadine Lines; A Southern Journal - 2009
What Did You Say? - Dead Mule School of Southern Literature - April, 2010
The Trillium -- Echoes Across the Blue Ridge, Essays, stories and poems by writers living in and inspired by the southern Applachian Mountains.
Pass it on - Breath and Shadow, online journal, July 15 issue,; ICL Newsletter, 2011, Clay County Progress Newspaper
Buck, My Brother Ned and the Snake -Muscadine Lines: A Southern Journal - 2011     
Public Domain - Dead Mule School of Southern Literature - April 2012   

SHORT STORY CONTEST DEADLINE MAY 31

When we write our life stories, sometimes it is easier to write them as fiction. In fiction we can imagine or make up things that happened. We don't have to stick to the exact facts. Many novels are taken from real life experiences. Hemingway's novels are full of his actual adventures.

Below I have listed a place where you can enter a short story for a contest with Glimmer Train.

A short story is FICTION. A memoir is NOT Fiction. A memoir is true.

Try taking a true story you have written and rewrite it as a short story(fiction).

Upcoming deadline:

The Short Story Award for New Writers (yes, 1st place now wins $1,500 and publication!) closes May 31. See Writing Guidelines. Open only to writers whose fiction has not appeared (nor is scheduled to appear) in any print publication with a circulation over 5,000. Submissions must not have appeared in any print publication. Word count: most submissions run 1,500 to 6,000 words but can go up to 12,000.

Two More Classes Left

There are only two more classes in my six week Creative Writing Course at Writers Circle - Dialogue and Characterization. Both of these subjects are important to those who write personal essays or short stories.
It has been said that dialogue is the part of a novel, story or prose piece that the readers do not skip.

In the modern world of today, readers have been trainded by movies and TV shows to enjoy fast paced scripts filled with action, emotion, and interesting characters. If a story begins with long passages of description, no matter that the writing is excellent, readers of today will likely skip it and find the action or they will stop reading and go on to something else. Character-driven stories draw the reader in if the characters are clearly defined and appealling in some way.

A main character should not be perfect. We don't relate to perfect people. After all, none of us is perfect. We don't like for our characters to be all black or all white. We are all shades of gray with good and bad.
When I write about my father, I don't show  his bad traits only. He had good traits that people admired. His sense of humor was wonderful, his storytelling kept his audience on edge. But I can tell also about his temper and how he could hurt us with his sharp tongue. I can tell how he was insecure and jealous of my mother when he had no reason to be jealous at all. All of these traits made up a man.

Often we best show the character of a person by using dialogue. We can show his mood, his personality with dialogue. We can move a story along with dialogue. We don't want to use dialogue in such a way as to insult our reader. I mean we don't want to use a conversation between two people to remind the reader of something in the past he has already read or quickly cover action in the story in order to move on to another scene. And the use of punctuation in  dialogue is baffling to many experienced writers.

We do have room for one or two students in these last two classes,. Call 828-389-4441 to register.
The dates are July 20 and 27. fee: 18 dollars each.