Sucking on grapes
When my son was little and he sat in the cart as I pushed him around the grocery store and shopped, I did not tear open a bag of cookies to quiet him. No, I sucked the pesticides off the grapes and bit them into appropriate size pieces and stuck them into his mouth. Yes, I did.
Before becoming a mom of a hungry toddler in a grocery store, I would never have thought that was something I would do, let alone something I’d encourage. It was not a predetermined action, I just did it. It was an instinct.
Before writing fiction I never even thought of making up things and people and places. I was one sad sack at bedtime story time if someone wanted original material. But one day someone suggested it, so I did it. I made up a person and wrote it and it worked.
Who’d have thought?
It’s still much less instinctual than sucking on grapes, but totally worth the effort, something that continues to surprise me.
What most surprises you about your ability or your writing?
Whod’a thunk, indeed. I’m always surprised when someone laughs out loud at something I’ve written.
Bunches of grapes to you.
It always amazes me how much fun it is to describe an atmosphere. To really dig into every site, sound, smell, and texture. And then to have someone appreciate what you’ve written by saying they felt like they were actually there as they read it.
BTW…I’ve ripped open packages of muffins and crackers for the express purpose of feeding cranky toddlers in a store!! Here’s to the criminal side of motherhood!!
I’m surprised I write at all. It’s something I never considered. Looking back, I’m shocked I didn’t: the stories were always there, in my head, incessantly.