Yes, there’s a new teacher, and he’s starting class at The Charlotte Center for Literary Arts in just a few weeks. I am honored Charlotte Lit invited me to lead a class. We’ll cover getting permission to write, what to write about, the best way to tell a story, choosing the right audience, judging good writing, and then where to go next.
Life Experiences
Untangling A Lifetime Of Bird’s Nests
At age eight, my bait casting reel would always end up in a knotty mess. Dad called them “bird’s nests” because the tangled interlacing of fishing line looked like the complicated weave of its namesake. I have a lifetime of creating knots. Not all the same. Neither are the ways to untie them, but the arc is always there. I create the mess and then help comes to my rescue …
Road Trips Matter: Make Time for Brown Signs
Today, I’ve come to rely on the large green signs to get me where I’m going, and the faster the better. At least they WERE my choice until a friend told me about the signs he follows. His signs aren’t placed to speed up the trip but to slow it down. Beverly and Richard Darlington follow brown signs on road trips. They’re the ones that direct travelers to historic buildings, museums, state parks and other places that put the “entertainment” back in driving …
The One That Got Away
Every life has its woulda, coulda, shoulda memories. Mine is a 1953 MG-YB. Morris Garages only built this car for three years. It looked old even when it first rolled off the assembly line in 1951. People were looking for something new and her pre-war design was not “the look.” Sales topped at only 1,301 and production was halted in ’53. Her timeless beauty turned my head when we first met …
Art For My Spiritual Life
“I don’t go to church every Sunday, but when I do…” I spend some time in prayer. Or at least I should. But sometimes I get caught up in the routine of my church-going and miss obvious opportunities for spiritual growth. Vivid Divina helps me get there …
Grumbles Matter
A guy cuts in line at the store and I sigh. I’m walking with the sign and the driver of the car turning right never even looks my way as I feel my blood pressure rise. A conversation seems normal except I’m never allowed to finish my sentence and I get angry. These things happen to all of us. When they happen to me, I wonder what to do. I don’t feel like flicking away “flies” as JFK told Jackie.
Louisa Meets Her First Busker
Louisa met her first busker this morning. Our new friend, Greg, said he was pleased to meet her and appreciated how friendly and interested she seemed. Do buskers add to the cultural richness of a city – or is a busker just another panhandler with a guitar instead of a cardboard sign?
Fear of Becoming A Snipe
Our annual Snipe hunts took place on Thursday evenings after Taps. The hunters were instructed to quietly assemble so as not to waken the Scout Master, who, of course, knew exactly what was going on, and then we would head up the mountain together. Lately, I find myself identifying with the Snipe.
Good Listeners Make Better Storytellers
Better storytelling can be traced to good listening, and as Willa Sibert Cather, the novelist who wrote so vividly about frontier life on the Great Plains tells us, it all begins at an early age. Willa’s belief reminds me of Corey, a toddler who grew into a man at a small nursing home his parents operated in Charlotte. Hillcrest Manor was Corey’s entire world until he started preschool …
We’re Losing Enough Stories To Fill A Library – Every Day
I read the obituaries. Not everyday, but often. Sometimes I know the person and plan to attend their service. Sometimes an obit celebrates a stranger. It doesn’t matter, as a storyteller myself, I enjoy reading about these people and learning something about their lives.