Monday 17 March 2014

Notes on writing...


Since long before Joe came along, I've been making notes about my childhood - jotting down memories and details. I love writing. That's the main reason I keep this blog. Blogging requires a certain amount of discipline and effort so it has to be a pleasure or you just end up letting it tail off.


Over the weekend I decided to make a more concerted effort with my writing. The plan is to write a memoir and a bit of a family history. Yes, I'm maybe a bit young to be doing that but it's not an autobiography. I want to write about growing up, about my childhood. I want Joe to be able to read it when he's older, and to have a knowledge of his grandparents' lives too, and their parents before that.


So yesterday I bit the bullet, ignored the scary blank page facing me and just plunged straight in. No plans (I'm a bit of a one for procrastination), no list-making (another favourite pastime/diversion). I sat with an A4 notebook and a retractable pencil - my weapons of choice - and wrote and wrote and wrote. It just seemed to keep on coming. Time flew. Words flowed.


I'll admit to a little bit of preparation. I made a (secret) Pinterest board with quotes and tips and a few pretty photos of typewriters and so on. Amongst the useful advice were these gems:

"Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on." (Louis L'Amour).

Read a lot.

"Don't talk about it: write." (Ray Bradbury).

"We write to taste life twice." (Anais Nin).

"Keep a notebook. Travel with it, eat with it, sleep with it. Slap into it every stray thought that flutters into your brain. Cheap paper is less perishable than grey matter, and lead pencil markings endure longer than memory." (Jack London).

I have an old box filled with little things I wrote as a child - poems, stories, Christmas lists and so on. In that box are some exercise books from primary school detailing what we did on holiday and at weekends. And certificates and Brownie badges and all kinds of tiny scraps of the past. Along with many childhood photos and my still-good memory I'm all set to do this.


Most importantly of all, I'm not following any rules or writing with an audience in mind or feeling the need to impress anyone. I'm enjoying capturing memories and committing them to paper and saving them for Joe, so that one day he'll learn about the adventures, big and small, of his family and the details of our lives. 

So each day I'm taking time to just write. I'm loving every second of that time - cup of tea at my side, pencil in my hand. It's precious and important and will eventually produce something meaningful and personal. 

P.S. These old photos really make me think about how much Joe looks like me as a toddler!

20 comments:

  1. I am so envious if your box of treasures. I used to write a lot as a kid and didn't think to keep any of it. It's brilliant that you're taking the time to put your childhood into words for Joe. A brilliant idea!

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    1. Hello! Thank you. It's been something I've wanted to do for a very long time and have scraps of paper all over the place with bits of writing on them. Now it's time to start doing it in a more organised way...
      Wish me luck!

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  2. a blog is a wonderful choice to write your thoughts, best wishes on this adventure, the photos are lovely!

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    1. Thank you very much! I really should get around to scanning them all, but that would be a HUGE project! A bit at a time, maybe...

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  3. Great photos and what a great idea to put it all down on paper.

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    1. Hello! Yes, I really want to do it. It's fun too as I don't have to do it in chronological order - just write down memories and little stories then rearrange them all at the end :)

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  4. In the photos I've seen of Joe, I agree that he looks an awful lot like you. I think this is a really good idea. I am sure you will write it well and it will be enlightening and engaging to read. The photos are wonderful, by the way; you look like a very happy child.

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    1. Joe is a little carbon copy of his mum - it's strange to see yourself so much in a boy but also incredibly lovely!
      And thank you for the comment. I did have a great childhood. Just my mum, my brother and me - she worked hard and we didn't have lots of material things but back then I don't suppose many people did.
      We didn't want for outdoor playing, fun or affection :)

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  5. I’ve been doing something similar for a while too. It started when we noticed my Grandma’s memory failing and I wanted to make sure there was some way of recalling family stories and happenings. We had and boxes of photos which I’d painstakingly went through and labelled when I still lived at home. My dad filled in the blanks where I wasn’t sure. I was always fascinated by photos of my parents as children and BigR is amazed to see picture of me as a little girl. We have one where I have a plaster on my knee and she is most put out I can’t remember what I had done to warrant a plaster! It’ll be a fantastic modern history for Joe and for you.

    Btw you look so pleased in the photo holding the plant pot...I had very similar shoes as a child too!
    x

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    1. Hello! I can almost - not quite - remember that day with the Christmas tree. As for the shoes, definitely not (although I used to wear patent shoes most of the time - my mum liked me in them).
      It is nice to see childhood photos of parents. Many seem to have disappeared which is a shame - no doubt someone in the family has them. I keep meaning to go through the boxes but have to admit, each time I realise how many there are I change my mind. One day...
      S x

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  6. My father in law wrote his memoires before he died - it is an incredible account of his life growing up as the son of the head gardener on a large estate in southern Scotland and his eventual signing up into the RAF during the second world war followed by his marriage and his family. It is all written in his own hand and just holding this little 'history book' book feels special - to have something that we can now share and remember him by and pass to our children and one day their children.
    When I was ill a few years ago I began writing my story and it is amazing how much comes back when you get started. I have also got a box of treasures for both my daughters which I began with their first pictures and have added to it over the years up to the present day - they are now in their early thirties! Each time they acheive something or do something even little things I add it to their box.
    Good luck with your story it will be a very worthwhile project and something your children will treasure in years to come. I love your photos - old photos always have such a wonderful quality to them.

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    1. They do, don't they? Even with all the strange old marks and discolouration. I'd love to scan all the photos and have a photo book made up although the originals (some of which are very tattered) are far nicer than scans and copies.
      The memoirs sound wonderful. How nice if everyone did that - I think we all yearn for that sense of family history, which is probably why geneaology is so popular (and that TV programme Who Do You Think You Are?). As for the treasure boxes, it is worthwhile doing that. I love mine and it's nice to sometimes look through things and reminisce (and laugh).
      Sarah :)

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  7. Such a lovely, worthwhile project to embark on. I know what you mean about those blank pages, though. I'm not a swimmer but maybe sometimes you just have to jump in.

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    1. You do! And then keep swimming... keeping up the momentum is hard too. Apparently forming a habit is fairly easy so I'll write daily. I hope ;)

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  8. I'm sure Joe will cherish every word you commit to paper. And you clearly already have a lovely photo archive for him to treasure.

    I love to write too, but although compared with many folk nothing so terrible happened to me growing up my childhood is not one I particularly wish to revisit. As a biographer of sorts I seem to spend a lot of hours researching other people's lives though. I do hope my children will forgive me for leaving them with more knowledge of a bunch of 18thC natural scientists than their Mum!

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    1. You never know, they may continue your good work! And I'm sure they'll treasure any photos you have if those on your blog are anything to go by - always beautiful.
      S :)

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  9. Love the sound of this project - a wonderful thing for you, and Joe, to treasure. Childhood snaps are always brilliant too - love your little red shoes! You're making me want to dig out my box of random childhood scribblings - one memorable piece was 'the chickenpox diary' (it only has one entry, and then I gave up on it. Too busy itching I suppose! Ugh!) x

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    1. Do it! It's fun to look back at pictures and little things you wrote and drew. I think I must have had chickenpox but fortunately don't remember it...
      I'm hoping to get loads more written over the next week. Amazing how little details suddenly come back x

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  10. What a wonderful idea ... it is amazing how much little ones enjoy hearing stories from their families past ... I made a scrapbook project for school when I was about eleven called My Personal History ... it's only short but my eldest loves pulling it out and looking through it ... and yes Joe definitely looks like you ... Bee xx

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    1. Hi Bee! There's something fascinating to children about seeing their parents as youngsters, isn't there? And hearing about their exploits. Joe will have plenty of those to read - I wasn't exactly sugar and spice and all things nice! Little girls can get just as grubby and are just as adventurous as boys, and I was no exception!
      Have a lovely weekend x

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