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Finding Writing Material In the Everyday

01 October 2013

Sometimes our day to day lives seem mundane. Repitious activites like school can send us barrelling into a state of monotony. Things such as friends and the latest movies can sometimes add a little spice to life, but even those kinds of activities will seem unextroidinary. How then can we writers, humans who produce from our romantic intellect, find something story-worthy in our own lives?

I've probably said this before but even so, I'll say it again: you're life is interesting, you just might not realize it. For most of my growing up years I ignored the "scope for imagination" avaliable around me. I've lived in Texas all my life and to me, the long summer months, southern accents and ludicrous country activites appeared dull. Instead I pined for England, or any other British nation which was surely more eventful than any location I had ever known! Recently, however, I have come to appreciate my surroundings and all that it has to offer.

 Let me paint you a little picture.

Last week I was gathered with my extended family to celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary. Cousins, aunts and uncles swarmed in the backyard and gravitated towards the barbecue grill. The sound of sizzling meat and buzzing cicadas filled the wide open landscape. Men wearing cowboy hats and big buckle belts walked with a confident swank in their broken-in boots. Girls young and old chattered and laughed with their sweet southern accents, more colorful than the trees transitioning into fall. A wind promsing colder weather swept through the flat lands and swelled into our picnic. Boys with beards and baseball caps related their thrilling adventures one after the other, almost like a contest, while the girls watched with delighted interest. When looking for a refreshment, I smiled over the fact that the only drink avaliable was sweet iced tea: the staple of the south. Even though I had experienced such occasions before, this time, there was merit in it. Though my travels have been limited I have yet to find more charm and warmth than in the community of the south where our fish stories are the best, our barbecue the finest and our tea the sweetest.

See what I mean? Similar to boredom, romance is not something that relies on the where or the how, it all depends on the who. Your point of view is the key to finding the extroidinary in the oridnary. And as a sweet little bonus, that sort of outlook will make life in general more exciting, even if you don't end up writing about it.

Written by: Karoline Kingley

Have you ever stopped to appreciate the things you normally take for granted? Let me know whether you have written about experience from your life in the comments!
 

3 comments:

  1. Good grief, excuse my incorrect use of *you're in the second paragraph. I'm shuddering; I don't know how i didn't catch that...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love to observe. :) I take paper with me everywhere I go, even if it's just to the grocery store, which I see every day. If you decide you're going to go someplace old and find something new, I've found that you always, always, always find something new. Every time. Also, listening to adults talk about their childhood or extended family is a great way to find inspiration. :) Awesome post! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, that's a great idea! I can't believe I never though of it, haha. Thanks for replying!

      Delete

Finding Writing Material In the Everyday

Sometimes our day to day lives seem mundane. Repitious activites like school can send us barrelling into a state of monotony. Things such as friends and the latest movies can sometimes add a little spice to life, but even those kinds of activities will seem unextroidinary. How then can we writers, humans who produce from our romantic intellect, find something story-worthy in our own lives?

I've probably said this before but even so, I'll say it again: you're life is interesting, you just might not realize it. For most of my growing up years I ignored the "scope for imagination" avaliable around me. I've lived in Texas all my life and to me, the long summer months, southern accents and ludicrous country activites appeared dull. Instead I pined for England, or any other British nation which was surely more eventful than any location I had ever known! Recently, however, I have come to appreciate my surroundings and all that it has to offer.

 Let me paint you a little picture.

Last week I was gathered with my extended family to celebrate a 40th wedding anniversary. Cousins, aunts and uncles swarmed in the backyard and gravitated towards the barbecue grill. The sound of sizzling meat and buzzing cicadas filled the wide open landscape. Men wearing cowboy hats and big buckle belts walked with a confident swank in their broken-in boots. Girls young and old chattered and laughed with their sweet southern accents, more colorful than the trees transitioning into fall. A wind promsing colder weather swept through the flat lands and swelled into our picnic. Boys with beards and baseball caps related their thrilling adventures one after the other, almost like a contest, while the girls watched with delighted interest. When looking for a refreshment, I smiled over the fact that the only drink avaliable was sweet iced tea: the staple of the south. Even though I had experienced such occasions before, this time, there was merit in it. Though my travels have been limited I have yet to find more charm and warmth than in the community of the south where our fish stories are the best, our barbecue the finest and our tea the sweetest.

See what I mean? Similar to boredom, romance is not something that relies on the where or the how, it all depends on the who. Your point of view is the key to finding the extroidinary in the oridnary. And as a sweet little bonus, that sort of outlook will make life in general more exciting, even if you don't end up writing about it.

Written by: Karoline Kingley

Have you ever stopped to appreciate the things you normally take for granted? Let me know whether you have written about experience from your life in the comments!
 

3 comments :

  1. Good grief, excuse my incorrect use of *you're in the second paragraph. I'm shuddering; I don't know how i didn't catch that...

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love to observe. :) I take paper with me everywhere I go, even if it's just to the grocery store, which I see every day. If you decide you're going to go someplace old and find something new, I've found that you always, always, always find something new. Every time. Also, listening to adults talk about their childhood or extended family is a great way to find inspiration. :) Awesome post! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, that's a great idea! I can't believe I never though of it, haha. Thanks for replying!

      Delete

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