Tuesday, January 22, 2013

WRITE.  A verb, meaning to communicate.
    "To write letters, words or symbols on a surface with an instrument."

         Have you ever stopped to think what a sad state we humans would be living in were  it not for the written word?   "To assemble: connect part A to part B."   No, no, I was thinking more in line with the Bible, history in general, Josephus (one of my favorites) and all the monks and clerics who toiled by candle light to make certain that information on the life of Jesus, and old Testament prophets, was preserved for future generations.
         I'm a "hobby" genealogist.  Letters and journals written by my ancestors are some of my most prized possessions.   Journaling by both sexes was very popular in the mid-1800's.   Somehow, in this age of technology, we have lost the ability to put words on paper.  Some of my ancestors' stories date back to 1855 telling about their journey from Texas to Utah in a wagon train--disease, hardships.  But it was their unfailing faith in God that kept them going.  Have you ever thought about writing a story for your children and grandchildren?   Tell them how you met their grandmother, and your trials and tribulations from youth to your golden years. 
            Your first response would be..."but I can't write."  That's what I thought until 1989 when I had the crazy notion to write a novel.   Friends said, "You can't write a book, you never went to college."  My response was...who wrote that rule?  It took me ten years to learn the craft of fiction and hone my skills, but since then I've written nine novels.  No, I'm not Charles Dickens, Edgar Allen Poe or John Grisham, but I've written entertaining stories about fictional people and their fictional life events.
         That's what you can do...write about your people, real people and your real life events.  You have no idea the profound effect it will have on your descendants long after you're gone.   Pick up a pencil or sit at your computer and start writing.  Explain what's important in your life.  Describe who has had the most influence in shaping who you are.  Don't think about sentence structure, punctuation or spelling.  Don't think about anyone judging you or laughing.
      Write what's in your heart because that is exactly what will touch the hearts of others who come after you.