Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Gratitude

I realize that many of our readers are not United States citizens. But tomorrow for most of us is a day of Thanksgiving, and for Christians, a day of praise as well.

Related to your writing, to whom or what are you most grateful?

In retrospect, I see a "hinge" in my life where my thoughts of becoming either a dentist or an archaeologist turned toward writing. I had a high school teacher, Ruth Roberts, who later told me she was touched by my writing assignments in her English class. (I was just trying to survive: my dad had undergone two brain surgeries in the midst of my parents' divorce proceedings. I didn't write directly about my circumstances at all -- like most teenagers of the day, I was ashamed of anything that might mark me as unlike my classmates--but apparently what I wrote got her attention.)

Mrs. Roberts knew of two state-wide poetry contests and without my knowledge entered some of my poems in them. I won awards, and for the first time thought of myself as a writer, not just a fifteen-year-old who wrote. That perception trumped my lack of self-confidence and helped me enter more contests, one of which resulted in a college scholarship.

I later made connections with Mrs. Roberts, and in my capacity as president of the New Mexico State Poetry Society, founded a state-wide poetry contest for high school students: The Ruth Roberts Poetry Prize. She has been gone from this life for many years, but I salute her today.

Today, for whom are you grateful? Who caused you to first think of yourself as a writer?

11 comments:

Cherry Odelberg said...

As a youth, I was surrounded by a bunch of Marillas with no scope for the imagination. Sadly, their creativity had been truncated by the practical needs of survival. While they indulged my need (as a teenager) to play the piano until the wee hours or take a moonlit walk, my mother never exclaimed over the bits of poetry I wrote at seven or eight to commemorate her occasions. Now that I think of it, only a handful of folks (college profs, English teachers, distant relatives) have praised my essays or narratives.
But I do remember the inner rumble that sent words spewing over the page when we were required to purchase a book of photos for ninth grade English class; "Stop, Look and Write." I made it a practice to do so ever since. While still largely waiting for validation for the hours spent with pencil, paper, double carbons, wordprocessor and keyboard; I have had the balm of applause for some original children's musicals produced solely for information as entertainment and fun experience.
Who caused me to first think of myself as a writer? Not sure I am there yet - but I can't seem to keep myself from writing.

Josey Bozzo said...

I didn't start writing till 5 years ago and I've been "playing" with it since then. But not until two months ago when Esther Federokevich(an agent)looked me in the eye and said "you know you're called to write don't you?" did I ever believe I was actually a writer. And even though I'm in a holding pattern right now and probably won't see any progress till after the holidays, I still relive that moment when I feel discouraged.
It is the moment that changed everything for me.

Susie Finkbeiner said...

I'm thankful for George Brown (my college Lit/writing professor). He read a piece of my short fiction years ago (15 years it must be) and wrote, "This is not a short story. This is part of a novel."

He was right. That scene made its way into "Paint Chips".

I'm grateful that he believed in me.

Debbie Fuller Thomas said...

I, too, was encouraged by an English teacher's response to a short story I had written. She wanted me to rewrite it and submit it to our school's journal. I was surprised because I'd never even thought of writing until she gave us the assignment. Hooray for English teachers!

Lynn Dean said...

I'm grateful to my mom, an elementary school teacher on hiatus in my pre-school days, who wrote down the stories I dictated and even helped me make hand puppets so I could "steal the family stage" for an evening. She endorsed my identity as a storyteller.

And I'm thankful to my 3rd grade teacher, Mrs. Catherine Cathey, who used her own money to buy a creative writing kit for the shy "new kid" and encouraged me never to stop writing. When I got serious about writing again several years ago, I tried to contact her to say thanks. She had passed on, but I was able to connect with her son. He was touched to hear that students still remembered his mom with love, and I was not at all surprised to learn that my kindhearted teacher has a kindhearted son who ministers to the elderly.

Latayne C Scott said...

It sobers me to realize how crucial the encouragement of a teacher can be -- especially since I find myself in the position of being a teacher. Thank you, Lynn, Debbie, Susie, Debbie and Cherry.

And Josey-- an agent can make or break you! So true!

Sandra Stiles said...

I have written for years. As a child I wrote stories to read to my sisters each night. As an older teen and early into my young adult life I wrote puppet plays to perform at different churches. Nothing made me feel like a writer until five years ago. I was in class helping my students create a story when one of them told me I needed to write books for my shelves. His reason was because as a reader I knew what good books were and as a writer, who always made them write, I knew how to write good stories. He is the reason I have my first book published. It was a student who believe in me, the teacher. I will always be grateful to him.

Sandra Stiles said...

I have written for years. As a child I wrote stories to read to my sisters each night. As an older teen and early into my young adult life I wrote puppet plays to perform at different churches. Nothing made me feel like a writer until five years ago. I was in class helping my students create a story when one of them told me I needed to write books for my shelves. His reason was because as a reader I knew what good books were and as a writer, who always made them write, I knew how to write good stories. He is the reason I have my first book published. It was a student who believe in me, the teacher. I will always be grateful to him.

Latayne C Scott said...

A student inspired a teacher! Wow!

Jennifer Major said...

I loved Cherry's reference to Marilla Cuthbert!
I've had a few Marilla's too, but I've had more than my fair share of "WHEN are you going to write a book?"
Which is nice, if you're sane and no one expects you to jump the good ship Normal and float away on a raft made of ambition and cluelessness.

Ever since I started really focusing on my writing, I feel more grown up, more like I have a point, a contribution beyond what people thought was in here. (points to head)
I care even less what people (who irrelevant to my daily life) think of me. I care more about honing my skillsI have a really, REALLY hard time saying "craft" because my brain immediately thinks "glue gun")and telling my story. God has pointed me toward crit partners who are so insanely different that I still can't believe we click and flow as a team. But I'd be nowhere without them. And alone. And truly discouraged.

When did I think of myself as a writer? I have for a while, since I write for a newspaper and have had an online journal/blog for 11 years. But perhaps that I felt like I was only dabbling IN writing. I truly felt like a writer when people started sending me their work and asking for my opinion, "as a writer".


.

Latayne C Scott said...

Jennifer, I feel your "glue gun" pain!

Your point about writers' fellowship is why we exist here at NM-- in a very literal way. I know that each of the six of us would not be able to carry on as writers in the manner that we have, without the encouragement we give each other. Out of that is an overflow that we hope you feel. We're all in this together.

Thankful today for our agents who first introduced us to each other. . .