JPPENS

Experience has taught us to pretty much know the shelf life of milk... of Cheetos... of  a can of beans... of a banana... of a pair of hiking boots... of one hour... of a sunrise... of a sunset... of a tide... of a full moon... of a glass of wine... of hope... Experience has also taught us that we aren't sure of the shelf life of a heat wave... of a blizzard... of a day's work... of a dug well... of an iceberg... of a salmon run... of a humming birds return... of good health... of a love affair... of a broken heart... of trust... of a need... of loneliness... but then again there's always hope for 2023.

  Back then ... Tourtiere pie scent engulfing all like incense rising from the burn...fish chowdah resting on the stove...nuts cracked open leaving their dredges behind... Mom's chocolate walnut fudge cut into mouth size cubes ...a sleigh of decorated cookies adorned in silver sprinkles...the fir tree dressed in shimmering tinsel topped with an aging yellowish angel...candles lit in windows framed by a frosty glow...opening a gift before bed only to find it was new pajamas to sleep in so that we would all look great for those morning  pictures...hanging hollow stockings each bearing our names... Dad singing carols in French...struggling at bedtime to sleep and giving way to maniacal laughter with siblings...parents pleading unsuccessfully to quiet the antics with "If you make too much noise Santa won't stop here" or some other pointless statement.  Young adulthood recollections of coming "home" from your little apartment excited to tell how life is going or ...

I am thinking that by now you have asked yourself "Why am I writing this", "Who might my readers be" and "How am I going to get them to even see it". These are very important questions to ask as you get on this writing road.   Will this be fiction ( fun, not reality, not facts, make believe) or will it be non-fiction (facts, dates, true events).  Either way, your work will most likely require a degree of research. This is what my spouse calls "fleshing it out". This is where the work of putting your story down so others can feel it, see it and smell it happens. Taking your research and putting it on your scribble board or in your outline is where some depth and story line will go as you continue to think and build it.  Below is a diagram that I made from a similar one I found in my writing research. I always have it in front of me when I write. It helps me stay focused on what I am trying to do, maybe it can help you as well. If you are thinking ...

 So now you have your "brain dump" looking back at you and it is time to begin to make some sense of it.  Your story line of what you are creating is in your head otherwise you would not even get this far.... One way to begin is to make an outline of all the things you have scribbled down or you can bubble them in  groups. Putting words and phrases into clusters that carry the picture in your brain of the place, person, thing or event that you are trying to tell your reader about starts to put your story together. As you put groupings of things from your "brain dump" together you will see that your mind will begin to write what you are trying to tell.  This may come together quickly for you or it may take time to start seeing this. This is a visual that can kick your story line into gear for you to start taking this outline or these clustered bubble thoughts and begin writing. Some folks call this a first draft but I can only go by my experience and it is an extreme...