Writing Letters and More – My Writing Roadmap / By Barbara Baker

When I was a kid, I didn’t write stories. I wrote letters. A lot of letters. At first, I only sent them to relatives and Mom would dictate what I was supposed to write – We are all fine. How are you? Is everyone doing well? The weather here is cold … hot … wet (depending on the season) - you know, the riveting news people couldn’t wait to read.

After a few test drives, Mom stopped checking my letters. Fabulous. I added tales of family misadventures, after the mandatory weather report, and embellished details to ensure I came out as the heroine in all escapades. My newly added details which were not exactly accurate, in my head, were pretty darn funny.

When my grade five teacher asked the class if anyone was interested in having a pen pal, my arm flew up. Imagine the stories I could tell them? I ended up with writing pals in London (England), Lethbridge (Alberta) and Ottawa (Ontario) and for decades, we exchanged letters. 

In the 90s with the evolution of email, connecting with people became easier. I spread life events further and faster. Sometimes even instantaneously after said event occurred.

It wasn’t until 2009 that I wrote an actual story. A friend sent me the link to the CBC Ultimate Canadian Commuter story contest. At the time, I commuted four hours a day to get to work and home again. In Alberta. Where winter weather can happen in every month.

I whipped up a story about a bad weather driving day, sent my entry off in an email and carried on with life. What a surprise to get a call from CBC’s Shelagh Rogers a few weeks later asking for an interview because I was one of the three finalists. I didn’t win but wow, who knew writing was so easy?

After the interview I wrote dozens of short stories and submitted them to contests across North America totally anticipating a warm reception. Rejection after rejection rolled in. WTH? Was my CBC entry just beginner’s luck? I pouted for a bit and then decided I needed to figure out how to be a real writer.

Off I flew to a writer’s workshop to learn about story telling techniques and how to become a legit author. After I arrived and took in the sights at the facility, I thought if I failed at the writerly part of the retreat, at least my camera would excel at snapping images of the sunsets.

 

 

The first night, workshop participants gathered for introductions and supper. I sat at a table and listened to snippets of conversations from total strangers:

    -    who's your editor?

    -    congratulations on making the slush pile

    -    did you go hybrid or traditional? - it all sounded like a foreign language.

 

 

A friendly gal sitting next to me, turned and asked me, “What are you working on?”

As I forked through the colourful salad on my plate, I said, “Do you think there’s raspberry vinaigrette dressing on this?”

The table erupted into an animated discussion about the salad dressing and its possible ingredients. Yes, call me the Queen of Deflection. And thank goodness it worked.

The following days were filled with writerly information:

    -    show don’t tell when writing – there’s a difference?

    -    use an active voice – what would a non-active voice sound like?

    -    use powerful verbs, avoid ‘ly’ endings - why?

    -    less is better – really?

    -    read your writing out loud - what if someone hears me?

    -    discover your own unique voice – how is that different from my normal voice?

    -    pantser versus plotter - pardon?

    -    how to beat writer’s block – do I use a chopping block?

    -    decide on your genre – how?

So much to learn since my letter-writing days of embellished heroine antics … and the learning continues as I debate working on my next novel about Jillian. 

 

Baker, Barbara - BWL Publishing Inc. (bookswelove.net)