Finding Humor Within Myself

I could write many humorous pieces about these two.

 

Last Friday I had the joy of helping WOW! instructor Ashley Harris with her webinar on writing situational humor. I knew it would be best if I had a notebook handy while she was teaching, and I was right. Though I don’t normally consider myself skilled at writing humor, after penning some essays that delved into painful family dynamics and true crime recently, I was ready to switch things up. 

You won’t be surprised to learn I came away with three solid ideas thanks to Ashley’s prompts. In one prompt, she shared an image of a national women’s magazine cover and students were tasked to write ten sentences inspired by one of the article titles. I zeroed in on “Quick and Easy Dinners.” I began scribbling immediately. When both kids were living at home, making dinner every night was anything quick and easy for a variety of reasons. The other three members of my family have an allium intolerance, meaning onions, scallions and garlic cause them abdominal discomfort and bloating, among other symptoms. My daughter always had sensory issues with certain foods. And I feel like I’ve been off and on Weight Watchers for the past 10 years. The beginning of this humor piece practically wrote itself. Quick and easy, my foot! 

Another prompt had me scribbling down instructions on how to pet sit my two dogs. By exaggerating a few of the details, the list that currently resides on my computer could easily turn into a humor piece. One of my rescue dogs has heart valve damage because her previous owner didn’t give her preventative heartworm medication. As a result, she takes Viagra every eight hours. Yes, you read that right. How is that not going to make a pet sitter chuckle? 

Another prompt involved taking a serious event that happened to us recently and making it funny. I’ve recently been diagnosed with high blood pressure, and the first day I was taking the prescribed dose of medication I became loopy and out of sorts. I probably shouldn’t have been driving. Then I had to move my husband’s SUV in the driveway while two A/C repairman stood in the yard (because of course our air conditioning had broken down). 

Here’s what I was able to draft about that experience: 

The two young A/C repairman stood in front of our house trying to ignore the sight of a flustered, middle-aged woman trying desperately to repark a Jeep Grand Cherokee in her short, slightly uphill, concrete driveway. Through the open windows (it was, after all, a scorching hot afternoon in the south), they heard the vehicle beeping at me because I had decided not to buckle myself in. I also refused to move the seat, and my husband is eight inches taller than me. I put the car in reverse, or so I thought, because it was really in neutral. It vrooomed loudly in response. Bless their hearts. They probably thought I had already started drinking for the day. 

You get the picture. I have so many other life events that I could turn into humor pieces. Like the time I was walking around the grocery store with my blouse inside out before a kind woman clued me in. Or the day the back windshield broke on our SUV when we were driving home from the beach. We rigged the open space with beach chairs, bungee cords, and beach towels, and of course it rained the entire five hours back. This is why I can’t recommend the instructors here at WOW! enough. Not only that, but we cracked one another up while sharing these story ideas. Sometimes it’s good to be able to laugh at ourselves in this crazy journey of life. It’s good for the soul. 

Have you written any humor pieces lately? I’d love to hear about them! 

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer who also produces the true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas. She’s teaching a class on how to write Short, Twisty Suspense on Oct. 2 if you’d like to check it out.

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2 comments Ashley Harris, Renee Roberson, WOW! classes, writing inspiration, writing situational humor

A Museum Honoring American Writers

 

This past weekend my family traveled to Chicago for a few days and attempted to squeeze in as many things as we could during the visit. Of course, once my phone figured out where we were, a place called the American Writers Museum began popping up in my social media algorithm. 

My daughter and I left the guys to their own devices on Sunday and took the walk down Michigan Avenue to the museum, tucked away on the second floor of a building a few blocks away from Cloud Gate in Millennium Park. 

At first, I thought we would be one of only a handful of patrons, but by the time we left two hours later a sizeable crowd had trickled in. We started in a thoughtfully-constructed and airy gallery devoted to children’s book authors. From there we explored an interactive timeline of works that spanned 400 years, designed to engage all five of the senses. 

Another permanent exhibit featured 100 authors and playwrights, ranging from the 1600s to the 1980s, including many underrepresented voices. Memories of history I learned as a child came back to me as I walked through the different sections: Colonial Visions & Revolution, The New Nation, Many Voices, Modernism, and New Voices. I liked that my 23-year-old daughter was also exposed to the many creatives and reporters that comprised The Cold War and 1960s Counterculture, as well as leaders in social activism. 

We explored a special gallery dedicated to the visionary voices of Chicago, such as Lorraine Hansberry, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandburg, and Roger Ebert. Another exhibit honored immigrant and refugee experiences, and visitors are invited to share their family’s stories and leave them behind for others to read. 

A temporary exhibit this year titled “American Prophets: Writers, Religion, and Culture” explores the ways literature reflects and influences our understanding of religion. The “Tools of the Trade” exhibit was especially interesting, showing various tools writers throughout history have used in their creative process, including an Underwood typewriter favored by Ernest Hemingway and a braille writer utilized by Helen Keller. We even got to test out a few antique typewriters ourselves!

Part of the museum is devoted to helping writers jumpstart their own mental blocks around writing. Interactive exhibits offered up writing prompts, and we were allowed to type up a letter sharing our thoughts on the museum, permitting our words to become a permanent part of the exhibit.

I walked away from the museum inspired and less fearful of sharing my own words (I’ve been working on a new novel that has a lot of autobiographical elements in it, which has given me pause more than a few times). 

But as I read the words of such strong and intelligent writers like Octavia Spencer, Ralph Ellison, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, and Flannery O’Connor, I realized I need not be so fearful. Our lives would be boring if every writer said the same thing and didn’t weave in their own experiences and opinions in for perspective. This was one time where I didn’t mind the social media influence that guided me to this enriching museum experience. 

 The American Writers Museum is located at 180 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago. 

Renee Roberson is an award-winning writer who also produces the weekly true crime podcast, Missing in the Carolinas.

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1 comment American Writers, American Writers Museum, Chicago Museums, Renee Roberson, writing inspiration

Interview with Bianca Jones, 2nd Place Winner in the WOW! Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Contest

 

Bianca Jones is a library assistant, developmental editor, and fiction writer represented by Leah Pierre of Ladderbird Literary Agency. She writes sweet young adult romance and dark, unsettling horror…and she would love to combine the two one day. You can find her on X (formerly Twitter) at BJOwrites. 

----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: Hello, Bianca, and welcome! I loved your winning story,  “A Forgiveness of Crows," which discusses a family curse and the ability to break the cycle of generational trauma. How did you first get the idea for this piece? 

Bianca: I’ve always admired crows for their gentleness, mischievous nature, and their extreme intelligence. Recently, I watched a blip of a video, maybe 45 seconds long, about crows’ ability to form relationships. Crows are familial creatures that have long memories and can hold grudges for up to 17 years! If you hurt one, you can end up catching a thwack on the head from its grandchild years later—they mean business. As an African-American in the South, connecting crows to Jim Crow came as easily as saying the word “crow” out loud. So, I started there, and the “family history” unfolded all on its own. I’m interested in exploring this idea in an extended format, maybe as a novelette, in the future! There’s a small detail of my narrator being a woman—a break in the cycle of sons that become fathers who are killed by the crow curse—that could have several meanings. Was it actually her tiny son’s kindness that broke the curse? Did the curse require a “male sacrifice” of sorts, and that’s why she was spared? Or was it something else entirely? I’m quite eager to know myself. 

WOW: I did not know that about crows! I can definitely see this being extended into a longer story. Have you published any flash fiction or short stories prior to this one? Where do you find your ideas? 

Bianca: I actually haven’t published any flash fiction before! I’m a novelist, and I’ve never considered myself strong at writing short fiction; I’m far too long-winded for that. In fact, I wrote “A Forgiveness of Crows” as a 2,200-word short story before I re-read the contest rules and realized I was supposed to be writing flash fiction, so I had to cut down this story quite a bit! It was a lovely challenge, though, and it’s made me more confident in my ability to write short fiction. My ideas come from odd tidbits and things I learn, or from inspiration in books that I read; working at a library gives me a lot of inspiration to work with all day long. 

WOW: You are represented by Ladderbird Literary Agency. Could you tell us more about your path to finding an agent and what books you have in the works? 

Bianca: I’m so proud to be represented by Ladderbird. I’ve been writing young adult contemporary fiction novels since college. Around big life events like marriage and children, I queried on-and-off for nearly twelve years before writing a story that centers around the lives and mental health struggles of Black and brown people; in particular, it’s a love story between two high school seniors, one Hispanic and one Black. I decided to, for the first time, query Black and brown literary agents. I found Ladderbird, read its bold, front-and-center mission statement on their website that says, “We have a passion for bringing marginalized voices to the forefront,” and I felt like I and my work would be supported and seen in a way that we hadn’t before. I reached out to Leah Pierre, and she loved my story as much as I do. It was very “right moment, right time,” but built upon years of writing, scrapping, writing again, and quite a few dozen rejection letters. Currently, we’re querying my YA mental health romance and a YA rom-com, and I’m also editing a YA paranormal novel with a touch of romance and a whole lot of spooky. We’re crossing all of our fingers that an editor will bite! 

WOW: Kudos to you for sticking with it! I know writing and querying for so many years is not for the faint of heart. It sounds like you found the perfect champion for your stories and I can't wait to see how your journey progresses. I noticed you work in a library (and I work part-time at an independent bookstore!) so I’m curious what genres you are seeing grow in popularity with your patrons. 

Bianca: I’ve worked in public libraries for 13 years, and I’ve seen so many genre trends come and go. Having one foot in the publishing world helps me see the trends before they even hit the library sometimes! Currently, the focus is less on genre and more on author and author read-alikes; aside from romantasy, which is still a major player in our circulation numbers, authors like Freida McFadden, Colleen Hoover, Kristin Hannah, and Taylor Jenkins-Reid always fly off the shelves. Any author who writes a lot of edgy intrigue is going to be a must-borrow. A touch of historical fiction usually makes a book even more coveted. And with books older and newer being turned into films left and right, I see renewed interest in stories that were popular ten or twenty years ago. Sometimes I get to see a classic, such as Wuthering Heights, start circulating more, and that’s really exciting! 

WOW: And don't you love recommending books to people looking for their next great read? I concur with all you said above. What is the last book you read and what was it about? 

Bianca: I read a cozy little book called Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa. Takako, the 25-year-old main character, is broken up with in a painful and embarrassing way, and she gets locked in a mundane cycle of depression in her city apartment. She moves to the outskirts of Tokyo, into the tiny apartment above a bookshop owned by her eccentric uncle. Previously a non-reader, she becomes engrossed in the second-hand books as she organizes them and begins selling them alongside her uncle. Over the course of the few months she spends living above the Morisaki Bookshop, she learns about herself, love, and gains a new perspective on the importance of consistent, healthy relationships. Lately, I’ve been reading sweet, human-centered stories from Japanese and Korean authors, both as a way to gain insight into another culture and to read something different from my usual rotation of spooky, spicy, and non-fiction.

WOW: Those stories are very popular, and now I have to put Days at the Morisaki Bookshop on my list! I have also been wanting to check out Jesse Q. Sutanto, who's been writing in a variety of genres. Bianca, thank you again for being here today and please keep us posted on your publication news!

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Leave a Comment Bianca Jones, Contestant interview, Renee Roberson, WOW! Fall 2025 Flash Fiction Contest, writing advice, writing inspiration

Sometimes You Just Need to Start

 

I get a little too caught up in figuring out my processes sometimes. For example, with my podcast booking service, I got overly obsessed with finding the right task app, time tracking app, to-do list app, project management app, you name it. Anything to make me feel more organized, that less was on my plate, and I wasn't so stressed. 

It didn't work.

And what I've come to realize is that all of this hunting for the one app that will make my life easier is just wasting time. 

Truth is, what ended up working out is a simple Google sheet where each tab represented a client, and I would fill it with the podcaster I pitched. I also included a Google Doc of what I'm pitching at the top. That simple. That easy. Oh, and occasionally, I'd add notes. 

I didn't need a fancy app. I didn't need bells and whistles. 

And the same problem can happen with my own writing. 

On a cloudy, colder-than-usual August morning, I opened up my laptop, took a sip of coffee, and hunted for a story on my Google Drive.

I knew it was somewhere. I had worked on it...oh, I'm sure not that long ago (or so I thought).

Ah, there it is, I told myself when I found it. 

Sadly, the last time I worked on --- peaking at my document changes -- was this May.

Let me tell you, this summer has been a doozy. It's not just the heat. It's not even one thing in particular. 

All the while, my creative writing turned into a guilt-inducing project I'm ignoring.

Surely, there's just something wrong with my processes. 

I thought of downloading a writing app. Tried a mind map one. Briefly considered a fancier writing software. 

Deep down, though, I knew my little old short story didn't need those things. It just needed my attention.

So, I got started with one more final round of edits. And by around noon, a polished, ready-to-submit version of my short story was done.

I learned that sometimes you just need to start. Guilt from neglect can lead us to look away from our stories in shame. 

Don't let that happen. Just get started. Write despite any begrudging thoughts that scream, "Why bother?" 

Why?

Because your efforts add up. Before you know it, you'll have a completed...something. A poem. A novel. A short story. An essay. A stream of thoughts.

No matter what you do, keep going back to your writing. You never know when you'll catch a wave of creativity. Ride with it when you do. Sure, the dry spells happen. 

Just don't give up.

Nicole Pyles is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Sky Island Journal, Arlington Literary Journal, The Voices Project, The Ocotillo Review, and Gold Man Review. A poem of hers was also featured in the anthology DEAR LEADERS TALES. Her short story, “The Mannequin of Lot 18,” was nominated for Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy for 2024. Since she’s not active on social media very much, stay in touch by following her writing blog at World of My Imagination.

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1 comment Getting Started, Nicole Pyles, writing inspiration

Surviving the Holiday Marathon

Welcome to the December 30th blog post. I have a sneaky feeling that this should be either about ruminating over the writing accomplishments of 2024 or making writing resolutions for 2025. The problem is, I've read many writing on those exact subjects in the past month and chances are you have also. So let's try something different.

How are you surviving the holiday marathon? Mine started on Thanksgiving and hasn't let up yet. I still have New Year's Eve, New Year's Day dinner, a Waffle Breakfast the first Saturday of 2025 and a visit to Longwood Gardens Christmas display. Don't get me wrong. I love the holidays. Family, friends, fun. And food. Lots of food. But at some point the to-do lists, schedules and seeming never ending events make me want to run away. I've come to believe that my favorite part of the holidays is mid-November. I can enjoy the fun of thinking about the holidays without the pressure of actually making the holidays happen.

What we need are a few holidays with zero expectations. Celebrate it. Don't celebrate it. And no rules about what you "must" do. That's a holiday I could enjoy from start to finish.

If you want to add a holiday to your calendar that is pure fun, I'd like to suggest a few writing-related holidays this year. Maybe they will inspire you to write something poetic or funny or romantic or deadly. Maybe you'll celebrate them by posting a meme, buying a book or just eating a delicious cupcake. They could encourage you to turn down a new writing path. There are no rules or requirements for these holidays!

January 2 - Science Fiction Day

February 1 - Robinson Crusoe Day

February 26 - Tell a Fairy Tale Day

March 8 - Proofreading Day

April 17 - Haiku Poetry Day

May 16 - Biographers' Day

May 22 - Sherlock Holmes Day

June 19 - National Name Your Poison Day

July 7 - Tell The Truth Day

August 9 - Book Lovers Day

August 16 - National Tell a Joke Day

September 10 - Swap Ideas Day

September 26 - Love Notes Day

October 9 - Curious Events Day

November 1 - Authors Day

December 7 - Letter Writing Day

If you could create your own holiday, what and when would it be?

Jodi M. Webb writes from her home in the Pennsylvania mountains about everything from DIY projects to tea to butterflies. She's also a blog tour manager for WOW-Women on Writing and a writing tutor at her local university. Her ideal holiday would be Writing Under a Tree Day. Get to know her @jodiwebbwrites,  Facebook and blogging at Words by Webb. 

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Leave a Comment holidays, Jodi M. Webb, writing inspiration, writing prompts

Interview with Julie Lockhart, Third Place Winner in the WOW! Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest

 

Julie Lockhart loves an adventure in wild places. During the last years of her career, she led a grief support nonprofit, where she discovered the beauty and depth of personal stories, writing about her experiences to help grieving people feel less alone. Her essays have been published in The Journal of Wild Culture, bioStories, Feels Blind Literary, Minerva Rising (Keeping Room), Bluebird Word, Sunlight Press, and Witcraft. Julie has placed several times in the top ten in Women on Writing Essay contests. She is a Pushcart nominee. Born in the Chicago area, Julie has lived, worked and played in the Pacific Northwest since 1982. She lives in Port Townsend, WA. Find her at: julietales.com. 

 ----------Interview by Renee Roberson 

WOW: In “Sonata,” you weave your extensive knowledge and experience of playing music with the highs and lows of marriage, divorce, death, grief, and processing all of the above. What gave you the idea to set an essay against this particular backdrop? 

Julie: Thank you for interviewing me! For a couple of years now, I have been studying the various forms that can enhance a personal essay–hermit crab, braided, collage, etc. For example, I love Brenda Miller’s A Braided Heart, as well as many of her essays. My husband and I are both musicians, and when I described to him the hermit crab essay form, I realized that one possible way to organize an essay is through the musical scale. I thought of the idea before I had any content in mind. A year ago, I signed up for Chelsey Clammer’s grief writing course. Something in her readings and assignments triggered this idea of using Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in C# Minor as the basis of an essay about my second marriage and the grief that seeped into my life through that relationship. Once I had the form, the essay kind of wrote itself. I was in the flow. Of course it’s been edited several times since, but I was able to get the essentials of what I wanted to say inside the musical scale. Chelsey loved it. One of the things I’ve come to realize in this writing journey is that it’s important for me to write what I know, and I know music. There may be another musically organized essay in my future! 

WOW: I know you’re a fan of Chelsey's writing workshops, and they’ve helped you produce numerous award-winning essays. Are there any other online writing classes or workshops you think would be helpful to writers exploring creative nonfiction? 

Julie: I am especially inspired by Chelsey’s readings and assignments in her classes. These four to six-week courses drop me into the creative zone. I also enjoy two-hour courses on a particular topic, such as Barbara Noe Kennedy’s travel writing course (although I have yet to complete a travel piece). A short course I would be interested in is how to write about difficult people in my life without subjecting myself to their reactions, assuming they get ahold of one of my essays. I use pseudonyms, yet I wonder if there are other recommendations by seasoned memoir-style authors. And are there legal ramifications for publishing an essay with details of abuse, etc.? I think a lot of writers would be interested in such a short course. 

WOW: That's a great idea for a course. I agree about taking Barbara's travel writing webinar and I also have yet to produce a travel piece so you're in good company there! Your essay, “Worthy,” has been nominated for a Pushcart prize. This is an emotional piece that details your experience with domestic abuse and violence. How difficult was it to capture those feelings and details in one essay? 

Julie: I worked on “Worthy” over a period of several years as I figured out how to write impactful narrative nonfiction. That meant lots of revisions, trying to “show” vs. “tell,” and also immersing myself in what it felt like to be me back in my 20’s. Scene was particularly important for getting back to those feelings. For example, the scene where my ex was so angry that he threw bags of chips out of the cabinet and stomped on them put me right back into what it felt like to be blamed for everything wrong in his life as I cleaned up the mess. When I submitted it to Feels Blind Literary, I paid for a critique. The editor asked me to expand the ending so that readers would be able to see how I escaped that marriage. Then I dove back into the messy months of separation and divorce. It was great advice and they loved the changes. A big challenge for me and perhaps all writers is what to include and what not to include in a personal essay. In “Worthy” I picked a few choice and significant scenes that illustrated what I went through and massaged the essay to help readers sink into my experience. 

WOW: In a previous interview with WOW!, you mentioned you enjoy reading the critiques from the contest. How have they been helpful for you and should other writers participating in the contests select a critique for their submission? 

Julie: When I submit essays to journals and magazines, rejections come without me ever knowing what the editors did or didn’t like about my work. We writers need to develop a thick skin for the inevitable rejections. I will usually wait a little while and then make revisions before sending a piece out again. But I’m in the dark about what works and doesn’t work. What I love about the WOW! critiques is how positive your readers are in their critiques. They generously point out things that work well. They also give suggestions where the writing could improve. I used those suggestions for revising an essay that didn’t place in the top ten, then got it published somewhere else. I think it’s worth the cost and highly recommend WOW! critiques if a writer can afford the extra cost. 

WOW: I agree--I think our critiquers do a fabulous job. You also created a blog with some of you and your husband’s favorite hikes. How often are you able to get out and explore and how do you think nature inspires your creative writing? 

Julie: Interesting that you ask that question. I just had a publication in Herstry that was inspired by the rain forest of the Olympic National Park. Wild places give me juice for living fully--with vivid scenes that I can recreate in my writing. And I have another recent essay that delves into hiking and aging. Living on the Olympic Peninsula means I enjoy quick access to places that bring me solace and allow me to escape into creative reflections. Several times a week, we get on the local trails that take us into lush Northwest forests and views of the Salish Sea. We also have a pop-up truck camper that gives us comfortable camping in places farther away. In 2020, my husband and I created that blog during the pandemic when we lived in Southern Oregon--with the Pacific Crest Trail within easy driving distance. Day hiking sections of the PCT became our way of moving through the stress and fear that came with both the pandemic and the discord in national politics. It kept us sane. Just as nature keeps me sane in this crazy election year.

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Leave a Comment Contestant interview, julie lockhart, Renee Roberson, WOW! Q4 2024 Creative Nonfiction Contest, writing inspiration

Dare to Take a Chance

Whether the heat or the holiday, I glanced at the calendar where I’d written “WOW! Blog post” and crumpled. 

Well, I didn’t literally fall to the ground in a crumpled heap of sweat. But I think my brain probably crumpled inside my head. Just collapsed into a pool of gray mush. Because not a single, solitary idea was left in the old mental file cabinet and time was a-wasting! 

Fortunately, that image of a file cabinet saved the day. I remembered that I had a file on my desk marked, “WOW! Post Ideas” and all I had to do was open the file to find… 

A whole lot of nothing. A lone sheet of paper waited, one with notes that had been struck through indicating I’d used that idea. UGH. But wait! There in the corner of the folder pocket, a scrap of newspaper. An old, torn, yet glorious scrap of an astrology column. Here is what it said: 

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). When you muster up the courage to take a chance, that’s something in and of itself. You needn’t couple your daring with the added pressure of demanding that you succeed. 

Isn’t that wonderful? You never know what amazingly accurate wisdom you’ll find in an astrology column! 

Now, I understand that life is about taking chances. Heck, sometimes, just getting out of bed in the morning is taking a chance. So this generalized horoscope was bound to hit the nail on the head with a vast majority of Libras (including me) as well as pretty much any newspaper reader. But the words resonated specifically for me that day—and why I’m sure I saved it—because I was deep into “Should I or shouldn’t I?” mode on switching the focus of my career.

But isn’t much of any writer’s life about mustering up the courage to take a chance? 

For example, when a writer spends money on a critique of a manuscript or when a writer sends out a query to the first agent. (Or the fiftieth agent.) How about when a writer pitches an article to an editor, or when a writer chooses to self-publish a book? Or even when a writer offers classes to other writers. I mean, basically, when a writer goes from thinking about to the act of doing, that takes courage of a special sort. 

But what I most love about that horoscope is the next line: 

You needn’t couple your daring with the added pressure of demanding that you succeed. 

Wow. Imagine how many writers—whether just beginning or considering something new and different—are out there right now, longing to try but stuck in a place of inertia because of fear of failure!

But here is what I wrote on the bottom of the scrap of newspaper: 

“Give yourself credit for starting. Starting is for the brave.” 

That was my takeaway point. So on this day after celebrating the land of the free and the home of the brave, dare to take a chance with whatever is calling your heart. Be brave!

~Cathy C. Hall

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2 comments Cathy C. Hall, fear of failure, horoscope, taking a chance, writing inspiration

Interview with Julie Lockhart, Q4 2022 Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest Runner Up

Julie Lockhart spent most of her career in academics, publishing extensively in peer-reviewed journals, such as Critical Issues in Environmental Taxation, and Advances in Accounting Education. During the last years of her career, she led a grief support nonprofit, where she discovered the beauty and depth of personal stories, sharing her own experience as well as that of others to help grieving people feel less alone. Her essays have appeared in the Medford Mail Tribune, Ashland Daily Tidings, Women on Writing and the Journal of Wild Culture. Julie’s website is: www.julietales.

interview by Marcia Peterson

WOW: Congratulations on your top ten win in our Q3 2022 Creative Nonfiction essay competition! What inspired you to write your essay, “Lego Girl?”

Julie: Thank you for these questions! Lego Girl came out of a writing class with Chelsey Clammer. She had an assignment choice to write about a special toy from childhood while weaving in some research. I pretty quickly came up with Legos since they enhanced my creativity as a child and occupied me for hours. When I write about the challenges I’ve faced in my life, I also strive to show how I’ve moved through them so the reader may be inspired to grow through their own stuck places. Lego Girl evolved into such an essay.

WOW:  That's great, and we love to hear of your successful experience with  Chelsey's class. How did your essay develop, both in your initial thinking about it and in the revision process?

Julie: Sometimes I know my story line right away, but for this one I had to work it out as I went along. The assignment required taking a different look at how to tell my story. I started out with researching some of the basic facts about Legos as I told the story of building Lego mansions as a kid. The writing then reminded me that my messiness around Legos followed me into adult life, which brought me to the relationship with my first husband where my messiness triggered his anger. I started to see how Legos could become a metaphor for the mold my parents and other relationships tried to put me in. I know I’m not alone in the challenge of breaking molds to become who we are, especially for women. Next, I looked to the research to see what benefits Legos have for Attention Deficit Disorder, which I was happy to find. I hoped to take the reader through my own understanding that ADD was actually a good thing; the way my brain works, once I was able to understand it, has allowed me to have a very successful career. Intuitively, I chose to write the essay in third person. This is the first time I’ve done this, and I really like how it came out. As I edited the piece, I worked to weave appropriate metaphors of Legos into the essay, such as “hard plastic hurts,” and “…they broke the mold…” I also found the writing process to be cathartic – where I came from, and where I am now. I didn’t know how I would construct the essay until I did; the different aspects of the essay and the ending surprised me, which is fun!

WOW: Thank you for sharing your essay writing process. What are you reading right now, and why did you choose to read it?

Julie: I’m often in the middle of several books at the same time, part of my ADD nature. Priest Daddy, by Patricia Lockwood, is a wonderful memoir that I recommend. I am also reading a lot of literary magazines online to get a feel for where my essays might be accepted. I have a lot of unpublished pieces, and a “stack” of rejection letters (part of the process), although I’ve had some recent successes. This comes from studying these magazines and persistence in continuing to submit!

WOW: Are you working on any fun writing projects? What’s next for you?

Julie: It’s all fun, especially since I’m retired and looking back at my life from a place of peace and contentedness. I’ve been focusing on learning and experimenting with the different forms of writing personal essays, such as collage and braiding. I recently revised a personal story by braiding in another story from my childhood. I watched the piece magically transform from a good story to one with so much more depth. And then there’s my memoir. I want to get back to it as winter sets in, but I’ve been having so much fun writing short essays where my ADD brain loves that the finish line is in sight. I’m starting to look at classes on writing a memoir so that I get an outside push to finish it!

WOW: Thanks so much for chatting with us today, Julie. Before you go, can you share a favorite tip or piece of advice related to creative nonfiction writing?

Julie: The best thing I’ve done for myself is to loosen up my writing and experiment with different forms of constructing essays. My professional career started in academics (accounting) where I stuck with all the rigid writing rules I learned in school. Creative nonfiction writing has given me the opportunity to explore and break out of rigid molds. I encourage it for everyone!

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For more information about our quarterly Flash Fiction and Creative Nonfiction Essay contests, visit our contest page here.

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Leave a Comment contest interview, contest runner up, Creative Nonfiction, julie lockhart, Marcia Peterson, personal essay writing, Q4 2022 Creative Nonfiction essay Contest, writing inspiration

Embrace the Ordinary

by Marcia Peterson

Who would want to hear about my boring life? How can I write something compelling when my personal history is nothing special? These are questions many of us ask ourselves—and they can stop us in our writing tracks.

But ordinary can be enough, even great. First, you’ve got more material from your so-called boring life than you think. Second, strong writing skills can make almost any story interesting. It’s time to believe in your stories and get your pen moving!

Who’s to say you’re uninteresting?

We tend to believe that most people already know or experience a lot of the same things that we do, and therefore what we have to offer is common. But even if there isn’t much unique about your life, then the issues that have relevance to you would also be meaningful to many others. In other words, people who are similar to you would probably enjoy reading something they can relate to. For example, as a writer, don’t you enjoy hearing about other writers’ experiences?

On the other hand, there are people who live very different lives from you, who’d enjoy a peek into your world. Even the seemingly mundane can be fascinating if it’s different from our own lives. A book like Water Cooler Diaries: Women Across America Share Their Day at Work, a collection of short diary entries from women across the country on one given day, shows how interesting the average woman’s daily life really is. We are curious about people who live a different version of ordinary.

You are the tour guide

If you still think your life stories are too dull, writing guru Anne Lamott offers more support. In an older interview for The Writer magazine, she stated that you don’t have to have a lot of drama or outward destruction in your life to have a lot to write about. “But you need to have been paying attention, you need to probably have felt things very deeply,” she said. “If people are funny and can just tell me stories about life or give me their version of things, and choose their words carefully, I’m in. I’m interested.”

Lamott has always been honest in her own work, sometimes painfully so, and readers love her essays. She advises writers to share the real truth, and reminds us that we all have something to tell others. “I don’t think there’s anything more interesting than one human telling the truth in the clearest, truest possible way. If somebody has a sense of humor, it’s so fantastic. Everybody has been through something that no one else has seen, and he or she alone can be the tour guide for that time, that place, that house, and that role in the family—I think it’s all just inherently interesting.”

Don’t bore the reader

Author Vivian Swift also provides inspiration for sharing our ordinary lives. Her illustrated memoir, When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler's Journal of Staying Put, has many fans. One of her readers wrote to Swift, noting what an interesting life Swift has led. Swift addressed this notion on her blog, stating: “And I want to answer this, once and for all: I have not. Had such an interesting life. No more than most.”

Swift then provided the secret for those of us with average lives: “However—and this is my whole raison d’etre as a writer/illustrator—I do know how to present ordinariness in a readable way. And that’s the only reason I get away with writing a whole book about myself, and why I give the impression of having had an interesting life.”

In reference to a certain part of the book, she continued, “So, the trick is, to write about that alley (and any other similarly ordinary part of one’s life) in a way that would make it interesting to other people, specifically readers. And that is the whole trick to writing a memoir: having an interesting life is not enough (and, in my case, not even necessary); it’s being able to write about it in a manner that doesn’t bore the socks off your reader.”

The bottom line? “If you give us a good enough story, we’ll let you get away with having an ordinary life,” she says.

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So, be confident in the value of your stories. Tell them well, and we’ll want to hear about your life. “I love it when people will tell me the truth and really take the lid off the soup pot and let me peer in,” Anne Lamott says. The ordinary can actually be extraordinary.

--This article originally appeared in WOW's Premium Green newsletter

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4 comments Marcia Peterson, ordinary life, value of your stories, writing inspiration

About Age, Attitude, and Working

Last weekend, I was sitting around a kitchen table, meeting with a few adults, enjoying a delightful brunch. We were joined by my friend’s eight-year-old daughter. Out of the blue, she asked, “Do you work?”

I paused for a minute, thinking—oh, lots of things about how I work, if I work, this industry I’m still engaged with in a love/hate relationship. But to keep it simple with my new friend, I said, “Yes, I do. I’m a writer.” 

“An author,” she said, her voice dropping in that way we do when awestruck. (A tone I reserve for astronauts or rock stars.) 

The conversation moved quickly to the next topic but I was stuck, pondering this little girl’s reaction to what I do. To an eight-year-old, being an author was amazing! Whereas to a woman of a certain age (ahem), being an author is kinda… 

Ordinary. And I’m a bit ashamed about that. Not that I think I should be skipping around shouting, “I’m an author! Woohoo!” all the livelong day but neither should I forget what it took to get to that achievement, and how hard so many excellent writers continue to work, hoping to accomplish publication. 

So, yes, I need to kick my jaded attitude to the curb and reclaim my enthusiasm. Darn right, I’m an author and that’s awesome! 

And in the same week, in a conversation with my contemporaries, something came up about laptops. Or was it streaming? The point is, it had something to do with technology and of course, we were grousing about all the new-fangled stuff out there and some were, admittedly, done with it all. They’d stick with what they knew, thank you very much. 

And sitting at my desk later, laptop open and glitching over some time-consuming upgrade, I wondered when I would be done. 

Um…to clarify, I mean how much longer would I make the effort to stay in the game. Because as we all know, time and technology wait for no one. It’s constantly changing, this business of writing, and there’s no going back to our halcyon days. 

Writing will always be writing, sure, so people (I hope!) will always be required to come up with the ideas and write the thoughts. But how we edit, how we market, how we query—just to name a few—have changed by leaps and bounds! Much of what I learned five years ago has long surpassed the “use by” date.

We often resist change, but with age, it seems like we resist even more; we decide it’s just not worth the bother. But now that I think more about it, I wonder if it’s not so much the years stacked against us but our attitude. Maybe that old nugget is true, that you’re as young (or old) as you feel. And when we start thinking old, we wave the white flag. 

Honestly, there are days when I want to snatch up the white flag, wrap myself in it, and just take a nap. But then an eight-year-old girl comes along and reminds me that authors are awesome, no matter how old they are. And that makes me smile when I go back to work, trying to figure out yet another "helpful innovation" by some young whippersnapper.

~Cathy C. Hall

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2 comments accepting change, attitude, Authors, Cathy C. Hall, writing inspiration