Nothing when you're parents are teachers. And especially nothing when your parents have been retired since you were 12 and were home all the time. Lolzerz. One thing I love about my parents is that they're always willing to help me with my school-work. My dad has a Masters and over 30 years of social studies experience, so I still call him when I have problems with a Poli Sci paper. And my mom was a librarian for the jr. high/high school her last 15 years, and she sends me 2-3 YAL books a month that I "Just have to read and own and put on my classroom bookshelf". And I try to.
Anyway, I recently visited the rest of my family in Ohio (both mom and dad's sides) and one thing that I realized is that my dad's side of the family truly knows how to tell a story, and my mom's side does not. Now let me start with my mom's side; I'm not trying to be a jerk here, but those people can not, for the life of them, tell a linear, concise story. They end up adding unnecessary and overcomplicated details that throws the listener off, and then they pause at odd times, I suppose to either let you sort the jumbled mess out in your head or to give a response. They're great people and I love them, but if I had a choice between a three hour car ride with them,m during which my lips were sewn shut, and reading the entire Twilight saga including the Bree Tanner novella; I'd rather take the car ride, but just barely.
Now my dad's side of the family is the other side of the coin. Apparently, you couldn't get my grandpa to close his trap, even if you paid the cheap SOB (families words, not mine). And he passed that down to his five children, my dad being the oldest and Nancy (the one I actually got to visit with) the second. Well ol' dad and me got in the car and drove up to Coschocton (actual spelling), and had a visit with Nancy, her husband (my uncle, you'd know that if you were following along!) and their daughter Jodi. And I swear, from the minute we sat down, till we left (4ish hours later), there was not a single pause in the conversation. I haven't laughed that much in a coons age. A story wouldn't even finish before the laughter started, and someone else would begin telling another, which in turn was followed by laughter and another story. Partly because we all knew (or could guess) how the story was going to end, partly because we inherently know how to tell a story, and partly because we wanted to tell our tale next.
There is a rhythm to story telling (and writing) that almost leads you through the telling. Once you get a feel for your audience, things like pauses, exaggerations, hand gestures, expressions, colloquialisms etc. become naturalistic. When you get on a roll, you know it, and it's that moment when you have everyone listening (or reading), in the palm of your hand. You can almost sense when you have obtained the perfect balance of context and cadence, and that moment, is pure joy. At least, if you're a Clark it is.
That's amazing that your mom was a librarian and that she sends you 2-3 YA novels a month--I bet you have a command of YA literature that would be hard to rival.
ReplyDeleteDoes your mom send you informational texts too? NCTE's Orbis Pictus Awards are great---very engaging informational texts for young adult readers--and I think informational books have an important place in the English curriculum, and not only because they're in the state standards.
After hearing about your dad's side of the family, I can see where you got your writing skills from...your writing itself "has a rhythm that almost leads you through" the writing.
My favorite line was the choice between the Twilight novel and the car ride with your mom's side of the family. Your writing has a very strong voice and I think it's perfect that you are going into creative writing so you can foster that skill in others. I think that school writing so often is formulaic and deadening instead of enlivening and quirky...you will be the perfect person to shake that up a bit. :)