Tag Archives: Family Story

Family Fuels Fiction – Joy Writing

Storytelling, , ,

Family Fuels Fiction – Joy Writing. Pat Conroy is one of my favorite storytellers. He said this. “One of the greatest gifts you can be given as a writer is to be born into an unhappy family.”

Let’s Modify That. One of the greatest gifts you can be given as a writer is to be born into a conflicted family. In my experience that statement encompasses just about all of us. My family was conflicted. Sometimes explosive. Your family was most likely conflicted too.

Conflict is the Essence of Strong Storytelling. I prefer to refer to Conflict as Struggle in this context. Struggle is the essence of strong storytelling. Ergo. Look homeward angels. Family is where the fodder is. The storytelling fodder waiting for you to turn it into story magic.

Families Bristle with Serious Struggle. My family. Your family. Everybody’s family. Take a moment right now for this exercise. Make a list of the intense struggles you have heard about or witnessed or participated in from your family history. Each is a story throbbing to be told.

A Family Memory Patchwork. How do separate members piece that patchwork together? An incident occurs in your shared past. Important. Even traumatic. The details sear your consciousness. You compare notes. You discover that those details differ from one family member to another.

Test This Premise. Grab your list of intense family struggles. Choose one. The more fraught and traumatic the better. Take a moment right now for this exercise. List the family members involved in that struggle. Which do you think would agree with your recollection of the incident? Which do you suspect would disagree? Family Fuels Fiction – Joy Writing.

Discrepancies Can Be Benign. Like they often were with my late brother Michael and me. We would tease each other. Maybe even jokingly suggest a possible fib. But only with the not-so-touchy bits. Nostalgia rather than gut wrench. The dreaded stories we mostly did not mention.

Dreaded Stories are Danger Zones. We tiptoed around them like quicksand. One wrong step and we could be sucked down with no hope of rescue. Rescue from what? Rescue from the collision of my version of reality and his and from the powerful confrontation that might erupt between us.

Every Family has Dreaded Stories. Your personal list of family struggles is a catalog of danger zones in your history. Each struggle is a bed of quicksand. Each is also a potential collision of points of view about that struggle. A potentially bloody battleground. All possess story power.

This is Fertile Ground for the Storyteller in You. Who in your family do you tiptoe around for fear of your colliding truths? What conflagrations have you barely survived when one of those toes slipped into the memory mine field? Which would make the most dramatic story?

Intensify the Story You are Writing Now.  Hot emotions. Cold hearts. Hotter clashes. Colder calculators. You have encountered all of these somewhere in your life. Slide them into your story. Use them to bring your characters and your scenes to life on your pages.

This is Toxic Territory in Real Life. Tell these stories as fiction. Reimagine all of the physical details. Personal descriptions. Locations. Times and dates. Anything identifiable. Retain the emotions. They are where your intense and powerful and dramatic story material really resides

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Struggle Boils through My Own Stories. Through roiling Riverton and the tempestuous families that collide and conflict there. How much of that has been inspired by real-life experience? Let me just say that I agree with Pat Conroy and I am grateful for the gift. Family Fuels Fiction – Joy Writing.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur.  Alice Orr.  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells.

Visit Alice’s Joy Writing Blog. Whether you consider yourself a writer or not you have storytelling magic in you. Learn to shine in the light of that magic and make it your own at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Novel. A Time of Fear & Loving. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series Book 5. Experience the joy of reading. Available HERE.

A Time of Fear & Loving

Praise for A Time of Fear & Loving. “Alice Orr is the queen of ramped-up stakes and page-turning suspense.” “Warning. Don’t read before bed. You won’t want to sleep.” “The tension in this novel is through the roof.” “I never want an Alice Orr book to end.” “Budding romance sizzles in the background until it ignites with passion.” “The best one yet!”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About your writer experience. About telling your stories. Ask your question as a comment following this post.

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Let There Be Light – Our Dementia Story Segue

Inspiration, , , ,

Let There Be Light – Our Dementia Story Segue. Today as I write this it is the Feast of the Epiphany in our faith tradition. This celebration is all about light. Light is graced upon all of us to shine everywhere. The catch is that we have to let the light in. Jonathan and I are determined to do  that.

Our Dementia Story Time. We have spent the past eleven months with our hearts and heads in Dementia Land. We have struggled to get what we need. We have allowed our new reality to sink into our shared consciousness. Meanwhile we waited for the next closetful of shoes to drop.

Now We Have Decided to Take a New Tack. We understand that our struggles will continue. We know that our new reality will mutate repeatedly. We accept that our mutual awareness will be forced to follow suit. What has changed is that we are no longer willing to wait.

We Have Decided to Travel a New Track. Earlier this year we spoke with some of you about possibly moving from New York City to Idaho. Your reactions were mixed. Our reactions were mixed also. We were afraid. We were intimidated by the magnitude of our plan. We are still afraid and intimidated. We have returned to our Idaho-bound itinerary anyway.

Eyes that Light Up When They See Us. We have friends there who are eager for us to join them. They fully understand our situation. They are committed to helping us. Actor and wise person Andre DeShields advises this… “Be among people whose eyes light up when they see you coming.” Our Idaho friends are those people for us.

We have failed to Find Such Eagerness Here. No one has committed to helping us in the hands-on manner we will eventually require. We understand the reticence and we celebrate the years we have spent here. But now we need more. We must go where we can find what we need. Let There Be Light – Our Dementia Story Segue.

We Understand the Trepidation. Some folks think we have lost our minds. On the surface this looks like a foolhardy choice. Jonathan is 75 years old. I am 84. He has dementia. I have serious heart problems. A cross-country move is a huge undertaking. Nonetheless we are thankful for the opportunity. And we intend to Do It Anyway!

Can-Do Will-Do Spirit. Adopting a Can-Do Will-Do Spririt is the beginning of all we accomplish in life. A close second to loving one another and ourselves and whatever faith we may follow. Embracing the Can-Do Will-Do Spirit is our New Year’s resolution for 2025. Along with spending next Christmas in Ponderay.

A Friend Poses this Question. “Is it impossible to be successful AND happy?” Which inspires me to think about how we measure success in our lives. Which leads me to conclude we succeed on the Can-Do Will-Do path by fighting back fear and taking some risks. I believe both of those to be happy prospects.

I am Reminded of Every Novel I have Ever Written. Each is the story of a woman who behaves heroically. She does not behave this way because she is unafraid. She understands what has to be done. She also acknowledges her fear. She does what is needed anyway.

This must be My Real-Life Story Now. We cannot escape the scary things in life. They are always with us. We will have to struggle. Like the heroes in a compelling tale. Who wants to read about people whose lives run smooth as glass? We all love stories where we  see the glass shatter and hear it crash to the ground.

My Life has Compelled Me into this Scenario. Sharp shards appear at every turn. I do not want them there. I would prefer for the life edges I encounter to be dull so we can pass through them unscathed. But that is not my reality. I struggle against fear of sharpness. I fight the fear. I tell our story.

We Will Move Toward Possibility. One step at a time. One step after another. Across the country. All the way to Idaho. Toward helpful hearts and open arms and smiling eyes. We pray for safe passage. Pray with us if you can. Let There Be Light – Our Dementia Story Segue.

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr.  https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. Alice blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights pending disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series. Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
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Faith – Grandma – Christmas – Our Dementia Story

Inspiration, , ,

Faith – Grandma – Christmas – Our Dementia Story. Her name was Alice Jane Rowland Boudiette. She died when I was seven years and three days old but I remember her presence as if she were here with me now. Because she is here with me now. We gaze at the tree Jonathan and I decorated for Christmas this year and she takes my hand.

With Grandma I was Never Afraid. I remember how it felt to be with her. With Grandma I simply relaxed. Every instinct I possessed told me there was no reason to do otherwise. The angels in The Nativity Story reassure the shepherds. “Fear not.” Grandma reassured me back then. She reassures me now. She touches my hair and tells me not to be afraid.

Grandma’s Hair was Gray and Long. Mine is gray and short. She braided hers and wrapped it around her head like a halo. She wore rimless glasses for reading and needlework. A housedress every day but Sunday and an apron and service weight stockings and laced-up shoes with chunky heels. She smelled like bath powder and wore no jewelry I can recall. Not even a wristwatch.

Grandma Taught Me to Live a Good Life. By example more than with words. She radiated faith and lived her faith by doing service for others. She knitted mittens and scarves and hats for the needy children of the neighborhood. She cared for the sick with homemade poultices and medicaments. I have some of those recipes still and I treasure them. As I treasure Faith – Grandma – Christmas – Our Dementia Story.

Grandma Served the Church. She prepared the coffee hour which was held after Sunday service in the reception hall. A grand place with lots of dark mahogany wood and leaded glass windows and the smell left behind by decades of wax and polishing. My memories are of Grandma in the church kitchen humming hymns to chords from the pipe organ above.

Grandma Believed Deeply in God. She passed that belief on to me. By the example of her good and giving life. By the kindness of her heart. By teaching me to pray. We prayed together beside her tall bed mounded in white linen edged with the tatting she had worked herself. “Now I lay me down to sleep.” I strung out the “God blesses” to keep kneeling next to her longer.

Grandma Brought Me to Faith. I have never needed it more than I do this Christmas. Jonathan hung the ornaments on the tree. I arranged The Holy Family in their humble shed. Grandma was with us. Faith – Grandma – Christmas – Our Dementia Story.

LESSON LEARNED – Keep Faith Whatever May Occur. Have a Blessed Faithful Season.

**********

You possess storytelling magic. Keep on writing whatever may occur. Alice Orr. https://www.aliceorrbooks.com

Alice Orr. Teacher. Storyteller. Former Editor and Literary Agent. Author of 15 novels, 2 novellas, a memoir, and No More Rejections: 50 Secrets to Writing a Manuscript that Sells. Alice blogs for writers and readers at https://www.aliceorrbooks.com.

Alice’s Memoir is titled Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness. At the beating heart of this moving story a woman fights her own disease disaster. All her life she has taken care of herself. Now she faces an adversary too formidable to battle alone. Available HERE.

Praise for Lifted to the Light: A Story of Struggle and Kindness: “I was lifted. I highly recommend this book as a can’t-put-down roadmap for anyone.” “Very, very well written. Alice Orr is an amazing author.” “Honest, funny, and consoling.” “I have read other books by Ms. Orr and am glad I haven’t missed this one.” “Couldn’t put it down.”

Alice’s Suspense Novel Series – the Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. Five intense stories of love and death and intrigue. Available HERE.

Praise for the Riverton Road Romantic Suspense Series. “Romance and suspense at its best.” “I highly recommend this page-turner series.” “Twists and turns, strong characters, suspense and passionate love.” “The writing is exquisite.”

Ask Alice Your Crucial Questions. What are you most eager to know? About Alice and Jonathan’s experience? About telling your own stories? Ask your questions in the Comments section following this post.

http://facebook.com/aliceorrwriter/
http://twitter.com/AliceOrrBooks/
http://goodreads.com/aliceorr/
http://pinterest.com/aliceorrwriter/