Here I am, back in Slice of Life space. It has been, so to speak, a BUGGER of a last several months. I suppose it’s a good sign that my head is far enough above water that I’m able to take in some air. I suppose there are stories to be told about it all, but for now I have another plan.
Yesterday, I reviewed Lynda Barry’s What it Is for the Two Writing Teachers website. Give it a peek here. (TL; DR: Get the darn book already!)
I thought I’d share some of my experiments, along with some reflections.
I brainstormed different cars from my childhood, and then picked one:
Ohhh do I have MEMORIES about this car! It was tricky to answer some of the questions, because a few images have faded over time:
The seven minutes for writing went by way faster than I was expecting them to. I probably could have written more – and yet, I actually kind of like where I left off. The last line came to me at the very end of my time, and I found myself wishing I had started with that thought. It’s definitely an idea I’ll be exploring more deeply:
I followed Lynda Barry’s advice and waited a week to go back and reread my work. It’s strange – I don’t know if the waiting changed how I reviewed my work. But I’m sure it changed how I thought about my work once I put it down. I was able to put the writing out of my mind – which is not something I’m often able to do after a creative session.
I’ll keep noodling with the exercises, and who knows? Maybe it will take me somewhere fun.
I could use some fun…
Soapbox: The Way I see Things 
favorite line: ‘my mom’s “schlep-along” in the cargo area…’
I get from your piece what a good feeling it was to immerse yourself , away from daily demands and troubles, in a multi-step memory and writing exercise. I am sorry to hear that the challenges continue to be deep. I hope for relief for you and your family.
On another note, Lainie, I feel like there’s something here that would make for another post on TWT. Sometimes, when we go through HARD stuff (and this year has had its share of hard for you!), it is difficult to return to writing. I know I’ve experienced it. And now you’re working your way through it. (Or maybe it’s a CC TWTPod episode to talk about how we have returned to writing and how that applies to kids.) But I’m getting out ahead of my skis… you have to wade through this to return to your writing again. I know you will find a path forward given that you shared this stellar piece today!
Stacey, absolutely! I’ve been thinking about a post like that for a while. I almost made it my October post, but the wheels were already turning for the book review. I’m mulling it over, though.
Thanks, Fran. I appreciate all of your care and concern across the months. I guess you’ve gotten a fuller view thanks to our work over the summer…
As for that line, that’s always kind of been how I’ve thought of myself within the family. When you’re the youngest of four, you’re just kind of something to grab and bring along with you…coat, keys, kid…sometimes I got left of the list, but that’s another story!
You post brought me right back to childhood for two reasons. First, we had a Buick Electra! Oh, how I loved that car since it had power seats and power windows. That was a win back then!
Also, your actual writing reminded me of the time my friends and I rode into Manhattan (from Central NJ) in the back of her parents’ station wagon for the Lunar New Year’s Celebration in Chinatown. I cannot believe we were allowed to sit back there for an hour+ trip (each way)! I remember loving watching behind me, rather than seeing where we were going. What a fond memory that was. Thanks to your writing, I got it back!
Ahh…the Buick Electra. That car was HUGE! It was my grandparents’ car, and we rode all over California in that thing…all seven of us, comfortably. (At least in my memory; I was only ten.) The electric windows and power features were a novelty as well.
I’m glad my post inspired some fond memories!
This is fun! We had an old Chevy station wagon with the wood on the sides. Such reminiscence of sleeping in the way back driving home from a long road trip. I love this exercise and how you shared each step of it bravely.
Ohhh the famous wood paneling. We had one of those too – a ’78 Country Squire. Bess was the first car I ever drove!
I also remember sleeping in the back of the station wagon as well. I also remember, at times, faking sleep on night trips so I could get the privilege of a grown-up carrying me to bed. Shhh, don’t tell!
We always had a station wagon when I was a kid and when we weren’t going on a long trip, we sometimes hung out in the way-back. Pre-seatbelts, way before car seats for little ones, before the time when there was an actual seat in the wayback, we just laid on the floor. Sometimes I thinks it’s a miracle that we all survived. (Though we were never in an accident.)
This brought me back to sitting in the flip up seats in the way back of a station wagon. Like Fran, I really love that phrase: my mom’s official schlep-along.
Ohhh the flip-up seats. Yes! I feel like anything behind the front row of those cars was basically a playground for the kids back then…
This is so fun. A weird thing about me is that I think I don’t like writing prompts – but then things like this, when I do them… I end up loving them. It’s really neat to see your steps – thank you for sharing them!
Exactly, Ona! I resist the idea of fitting what I’m doing into a structure. My worry is that my writing will seem too boring or routine. But often, there’s some moment where my thoughts work a kind of magic, and my writing takes me somewhere completely unexpected. Maybe it’s the way my brain turns off a little bit during a writing exercise, like thinking in the shower? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll have to explore the idea a little more. But I love those moments!
Hi, Lainie – tried to leave a comment and it disappeared :O – will try again!
It’s so great to be reading your writing once more. The recent rhythms of my own life have precluded the writing I’ve desired to do – when I am not too exhausted to even desire it, that is to say. What a great slice of process you’ve shared here, and oh, the topic of childhood cars! They are characters themselves. Think of all they brought us through. My favorite childhood car was Grandma’s 1964 Ford Galaxie 500, bright red – her favorite color, not to mention perfectly symbolic of her name, Ruby. I have dreamed of that car over the years – it always navigated me through dark nights and strange streets. I must share that when my husband’s car died last April, he chose to keep my old car and bought a new one for me. I loved the second car we looked at, mostly for the interior – the exterior wasn’t really my color preference. It didn’t occur to me until I was driving it home that I am now a grandmother with a bright red car! My Micah-girl, almost 3, adores it…things have come, in their endlessly-curious way, full-circle. ❤
I love seeing the old station wagon through your eight-year-old eyes and especially those ending lines of your draft – I don’t mind living in fantasy, PERIOD, either! Thank you for all of this.
The waaay back! Your notes had me thinking about all those long and not so long trips in various cars. I must try this exercise soon and although I haven’t cracked my book open yet, I’m on my way to retrieve it so it’s on my nightstand. Again.