NEW/OLD WORDS

I thought every once in awhile I would offer some of what I "collect" in my writer's journals. In this case, I'm sharing some "new/old" words I made notes of.

Voile: a thin, sheer fabric
What an old-fashioned word; something I would think would only be used in Victorian novels. Or maybe a young girl only purchases her clothes from vintage shops and buys a dress made of voile for a special date.

Mead: A drink made of honey and water==fermented, I think.
Old England? Vikings? I can't remember what era this was but it might make a good drink when I have a serious sinus attack.

Burished: polished
I see old statues or jewelry that has been burished or polished to a high sheen.

Splayed: spread out
I know this is another of those old-fashioned words we seldom see use--except maybe in nature books or tales of the sea. What about a romance--Her hair was splayed out around her as she waited for him atop the satin sheets. Doesn't sound very romantic, does it?

Desecrated: treated inappropriately somethng considered holy
I think I might do a lot of this every time I use the King's English.

Have any of these collections of words?

PERSONALLY

Many of the articles I've sold were personal essays. What is a personal essay? It is an article that expresses your viewpoint about a subject you have experienced. Many of mine have been stories of my childhood, events experienced, or lessons learned, in a bygone time.

Often writers such as the late Erma Bombeck, used humorous ancedotes--even exaggerations--to create her personal essays which were often collected into books. On "Sixty Minutes," Andy Rooney's commentaries are short personal essays. These writers entertain us with their personal opinions, and I might add, earned a fine living doing so.

Your personal essay writing can be triggered by an old photograph, the passing of a favorite aunt, or a note in the news. A teenager has been convicted of a horrendous crime, for example. Can you tie this into a time when you committed some infraction of the law (stole a lipstick, or spray-painted the coache's office door)? Did fear you'd be found out and arrested by Sheriff Bud weigh heavily? Or worse, placed in the custody of your Dad who would deal out the harshest punishment--grounded for life--or until you turned eighteen and joined the Army, or became a num.

Kids playing video and/or computer games brought out a personal essay from my past. I wrote about the games we played, the lack of fancy toys, and the active imaginations we used to create our own fun. Another personal essay I recently sold was one about Daddy reading the Sunday funnies--no cartoons on television for me.

Make these personal essays a part of your "writing for dollars." Or write and collect them as a memoir to sell as a book, such as my "Growing up Barefoot in the South."

If nothing else, these personal essays you create make a wonderful gift to friends and family.

REMEMBER

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Flames, smoke, debris
filled the New York sky
on this September day.
I think my eyes deceive me.
It can't be happening.
This is my country.
This is my America.
Land of the free--maybe too free
If terriorist-manned planes can invade.
I hear the sirens, imagine the rumbles
As one by one
The melted steel plunges to the earth.
Ghosts of Pearl Harbor, Dresden, Magasaki
Rise, phantom-like before me
As I watch people run for their lives,
Screaming, weeping, fearing the unknown
As those two pillars sink to their deaths.
It is the end of innocence.
We must never forget.
We must always remember.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Today I saw the Phoenix beginning to rise
On that ravaged square of American soil.
A tattered pillar has been returned
A remembrance of that fateful day.
In the future, pools will reflect
New towers reaching skyward,
Visitors with grateful hearts, enjoying life
Will mingle with the silenced voices
On that sacred ground.
Renewal, revitalization, resilence
Will ring out on a new era.
The spirit of America will not be lost.
But we will never forget.
We will always remember.

(c) Barbara Deming, 2001/2009

WRITER'S JOURNAL

When I think of keeper's of journals, the first one that comes to mind is Anne Frank. Maybe because I first read her journal (or diary) when I was about sixteen, the age when she wrote the final pages of her diary--and died. As an adult, I found (I think there were three of them) the diaries of Anne Morrow Lindbergh--youth, maturity, happiness through tragedy--through odd marriage to charming independence. The words of both of these diarists have haunted me.

A writer's journal can be anything we want; a place to examine feelings and reveal daily happenings as my two favorite examples, and they can also be a source to inspire our writing. Over the years my own journals have included new ideas, lists of characters names and descriptions, events in my daily life, travel, news clippings, a collection of words and phrases, cards received, and photographs. In some I have actually completed entire short stories.

Someone once said keeping a journal is like "thinking aloud on paper." One idea can lead to another. One news clipping can become the basis for a story--or book. A photograph may trigger a personal essay. Sharing places you've traveled to, or lived in, could help you discover somethng new about yourself. For example, maybe there's a spark of adventure within you that you've allowed to become dorment. The urge to write could be rekindled by journaling about what you want out of life, your dreams, your need to write, or the daily events around you.

Pick up that journal, or even a sheet of paper, and think on paper.

NEW FANGLED STUFF

Today I had to bite the bullet and replace my five-year old computer. It has been great as far as ease to use; it has been horrible as far as running smoothly. At 18 months, under extended warranty, it went back to the factory where they replaced the memory, hard drive, this and that, until I believe they could have sent me a coupon for a new computer--or some money back. And, for the last three months, it has been making the same kind of noises and moves and lockups that it did right before it crashed for good. Needless to say, I have downloaded all the necessary things, and did not go out looking at the same brand for replacement.

I purchased a Dell computer today with losts of memory and hard drive space. It will also be upgraded to Windows 7 when it is available. I hope it will run for as long as I do. LOL

Now if I can get that darned Word 2007 to magically become as easy to handle as Word 2003, I'll be one happy camper.