Anatomy of a Story: PLOT

It`s Day 3-post Banff. I`m wiped! Traveling takes so much out of me. Not too mention being in the head space that I was in for seven days.  That was the part that scared me the most before I left. I was so worried about being in that vulnerable place for so long. I wasn`t sure what to expect. I just knew it wouldn`t be easy.

I was right.

The story I  worked on, the one I submitted to get into the program, was a story in my collection, for the book.  It was a very honest story about loss. Sharing this with others was scary. Being critiqued for its meaning, voice, style and weaknesses etc., was even more terrifying! Sharing true stories is always difficult but I cannot tell you how empowered I was to learn this story mattered-not only to me.

Tuesday was the day my story was critiqued. It was also the day I had my one on one with the amazing Merilyn Simonds. By Thursday, I crashed-emotionally and physically. I guess it was to be expected. I was absorbing so much information. I was open, raw and present. Time and time again I tapped into the part that hurts, the one more sensitive then a sunburn, the stuff below the surface-and shared it.

Writing is a very difficult process. Writing true stories, I believe is even more difficult. Some people may wonder why I even bother putting myself through it. Sometimes I ask myself the same question. The answer that comes again and again is that not writing is even more difficult. There is no other choice for me.

 I will continue to write my true stories until.

More Soon. The Reading is next.
Love,