Letting Loose = L: Blogging from A to Z
Today, I welcome Mom, Angela Silverthorne, back to the blog. Mom and I co-wrote
Depression Cookies
and work together as much as we can.
Enjoy!
*****
LettingLoose
When I first began writing, I dreamed of writing forchildren. I wrote short stories and poems about little ones who were alwaysgetting into trouble. It helped that my protagonist lived right under my roof,my little brother. He was forever up to no good, to the point I thought my poormother would go bald from running her hands through her hair. But writing about little brothers gets tiring. Iwanted to let loose and do something no one else had ever done. My initiationinto letting loose began on my 16th birthday. At that point in mylife, my favorite author was Victoria Holt. Since there were no knights inshining armor or damsels in distress in my neighborhood, I decided to writeabout the characters around me. 
Mom and Dad back in the dayA character study is similar to stalking. Atsixteen, stalking is not easy. The whole time I tried to be covert, I wasstumbling over my own two feet or giving myself away by blushing. Instead ofbeing reckless and daring, I was careless and timid. But I was determined.
At the top of our street there was a General Store.It was the perfect place to stalk. Customers strolled inside and took theirtime. Men chatted in groups of two and three. Women lingered longest at the meat andcheese counter. I found the perfect corner to lean into and just watch. WhenMs. Patty, the owner, glared at me, I’d pick up a package and pretend to bereading the contents. After 30 minutes, I realized the task at hand was a lotmore difficult than I had imagined. It was hard to hear what my subjects weresaying and most of the time they kept turning their backs to me.
Sighing, I decided to leave and think up anotherstrategy to get writing material. As I turned to leave, a man twice my age withhalf my teeth grabbed me, pulled me through the throng of customers and pushedme past the screen door. He didn’t let loose of me until we were several feetfrom the building. I was terrified. He was huge! “You best go home now, you hear?” he yelled at me,still clutching my arm. “I ain’t lettin’ you go until you promise to quittrying to steal my aunt’s merchandise.”
I stopped flat still, looking up at him in totaldisbelief. “Steal? I’m not trying to steal anything.” Incredulous thoughtswhirled around my brain until I realized how guilty I must have looked. “Oh,you’ve got this all wrong. I’m a writer. I’m trying to do a character study.”
“Character study?” he repeated, spitting out a wadof tobacco, “You’d best be trying to study school and not be a dumb ass likeme. Now git!”
I ran all the way home. It took me two days to writethe whole event down . . . embellishing and letting loose on the best characterstudy ever. Now when I even hint at writers' block, I remember being sixteenand pushing the limits. That’s the key to being a good writer. Letting loose.*****How do you let loose?
Thanks for hanging out with us for L day. Please come back to see our takes on M through Z, and visit other A to Z bloggers here.
Enjoy!
*****
LettingLoose
When I first began writing, I dreamed of writing forchildren. I wrote short stories and poems about little ones who were alwaysgetting into trouble. It helped that my protagonist lived right under my roof,my little brother. He was forever up to no good, to the point I thought my poormother would go bald from running her hands through her hair. But writing about little brothers gets tiring. Iwanted to let loose and do something no one else had ever done. My initiationinto letting loose began on my 16th birthday. At that point in mylife, my favorite author was Victoria Holt. Since there were no knights inshining armor or damsels in distress in my neighborhood, I decided to writeabout the characters around me.
Mom and Dad back in the dayA character study is similar to stalking. Atsixteen, stalking is not easy. The whole time I tried to be covert, I wasstumbling over my own two feet or giving myself away by blushing. Instead ofbeing reckless and daring, I was careless and timid. But I was determined.At the top of our street there was a General Store.It was the perfect place to stalk. Customers strolled inside and took theirtime. Men chatted in groups of two and three. Women lingered longest at the meat andcheese counter. I found the perfect corner to lean into and just watch. WhenMs. Patty, the owner, glared at me, I’d pick up a package and pretend to bereading the contents. After 30 minutes, I realized the task at hand was a lotmore difficult than I had imagined. It was hard to hear what my subjects weresaying and most of the time they kept turning their backs to me.
Sighing, I decided to leave and think up anotherstrategy to get writing material. As I turned to leave, a man twice my age withhalf my teeth grabbed me, pulled me through the throng of customers and pushedme past the screen door. He didn’t let loose of me until we were several feetfrom the building. I was terrified. He was huge! “You best go home now, you hear?” he yelled at me,still clutching my arm. “I ain’t lettin’ you go until you promise to quittrying to steal my aunt’s merchandise.”
I stopped flat still, looking up at him in totaldisbelief. “Steal? I’m not trying to steal anything.” Incredulous thoughtswhirled around my brain until I realized how guilty I must have looked. “Oh,you’ve got this all wrong. I’m a writer. I’m trying to do a character study.”
“Character study?” he repeated, spitting out a wadof tobacco, “You’d best be trying to study school and not be a dumb ass likeme. Now git!”
I ran all the way home. It took me two days to writethe whole event down . . . embellishing and letting loose on the best characterstudy ever. Now when I even hint at writers' block, I remember being sixteenand pushing the limits. That’s the key to being a good writer. Letting loose.*****How do you let loose?
Thanks for hanging out with us for L day. Please come back to see our takes on M through Z, and visit other A to Z bloggers here.
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