Give Me Good Writing or Give Me Death...

Topic: Write your own obituary
Style: Autobiographical/Journalism/Obit/Poetry...It's up to you!
Given by: Jocelyn

Is it too morbid to talk about your own death? A few months ago, I listened to this wonderful interview on NPR with journalist Ann Wroe who has gained prestige for her ability to write great obituaries! I was quite intrigued. She has made quite a career out of writing about people's lives and deaths and to hear her talk about it makes it sound like quite an art. This month, in honor of Halloween, we are going to write obituaries for our writing prompt. You can decide whether you want to write it about yourself (oh, come on now, be brave!) or another person...whether you will write a witty tombstone to accompany it or just a blurb that might end up in the paper in the days following your passing. I know this might be a scary assignment for...well for all of us writers who are still living! But it could also be fun. You can take a serious approach or a comical twist...dig deep and just enjoy the process and see what you come up with!

Things to think about: Just how will you die, exactly? Are you the type who will die during a bungee jump at age 89? Or will you die of hysteria while laughing at yourself? Or will you drift away peacefully, watching your fave re-run of The Golden Girls? Who will be at your side when you pass? How old will you be? How would you describe yourself? What will be your proudest accomplishment or biggest regret? Where would you like to be buried? Funeral arrangements? Do you have a message for the people you will leave behind? Will you leave any special gifts to anyone?

I have included a few witty tombstones sayings that I found online as well as a link to a site where you can actually make your own virtual tombstone - to post along with your finished writing sample! Good luck everyone! (Please post by the 15th, which happens to be my birthday...your posts will be the perfect gift!)

To generate your own tombstone free online click here.

NPR Interview with Ann Wroe: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17821504

For more inspiration and how-to tips go to The Blog of Death. (I like the "who's dead and who's alive" section)

First a Cough

Carried Me Off

Then a Coffin

They Carried Me Off In

Boston, Massachusetts

I told you that I was sick!
-- Georgia Cemetary, USA

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake; Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
-- Pennsylvania Tombstone, USA

Remember man, as you walk by, As you are now, so once was I, As I am now, so shall you be, Remember this and follow me.
-- Tombstone in England

Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake; Stepped on the gas instead of the brake.
-- Pennsylvania Tombstone, USA

Falkirk, England

1690

Here lie the bones of Joseph Jones

Who ate while he was able.

But once overfed, he dropt down dead

And fell beneath the table.

When from the tomb, to meet his doom,

He arises amidst sinners.

Since he must dwell in heaven or hell,

Take him - whichever gives the best dinners.

My Relationship with Writing

I don’t dream about vampires, wizards or elves. My imagination creates nothing original. It’s just a borrowed collection of things I’ve heard or seen before twisted to my own perception or liking. Because of this, I’ve never felt the need to have others read my writing. I write for me.

I began writing in my journal when I was eight years old. At first, my journal entries were written in the dark, scribbled on a small spiral notebook because of the two sisters I shared a room with who didn’t want the light left on. I had been taught to keep a journal and I very much enjoyed reading and learning about my ancestors, so I decided then to write daily. In the years since then I have filled four more journals, each one bigger than the last and much more detailed. It’s fun for me to go back and look at the person I was compared to who I am now, though it is hard for me to imagine anyone else enjoying the entries as much as I do.

Writing allows me to express myself in ways that I never would with the spoken word. In school I was able to get near perfect scores on book reports after never having read the books--which is surprising now, because I am always reading—so I guess I have some talent for embellishing! Though I have never written anything nearly good enough for publication, I look forward to the chance to develop a skill in writing along with the rest of the writing group.

-Heidi Parkinson

Writing and Remembering

Tucked deeply inside one of my dusty storage boxes is a folder full of yellowing pages—short stories I penned once upon a time as a youngster. One in particular stands out in my memory: Mr. Green Jeans, a story about a horse and a little girl. I can also claim authorship to a good many “Readers’ Theaters” (remember those?), of which my teachers were always way too kind to allow my friends and me to perform in front of the whole class. Oh, I get red-faced just thinking about it! Thinking back on those embarrassing elementary school writing days, I guess I could say that I have always dreamed of being a writer.

My inspiration usually comes while I am running the vacuum or mowing the lawn. Maybe that is because as the mother of three children, I have very few other quiet times to think! Once the vacuum is tucked back into the closet or the mower is shoved back into the shed, I rush to the computer to type out my thoughts for the day.

Writing allows me to feel somewhat intelligent among the diapers and duties of a stay-at-home mom. I love being a woman and a mother; however, sometimes my world feels very small. But, I am confident that every person has an interesting story to tell, and truthfully, I am interested in everyone’s story. The written word opens the door to an endless array of interesting persons and places.

I fuel my passion by reading everything I can get my hands on. I enjoy everything from classics to cereal boxes. In my efforts to devour the written word, I have gained access to the thoughts of so many different types of people. They inspire me. And, because I love reading so much, I am driven to write as well. I particularly enjoy writing essays about everyday life and sprinkling lots of sentimental mush into my stories. Of course, anytime one writes about life with a husband and young children, humor seems to be a fitting theme as well.

As my days roll into years, I am always grateful for the little tidbits I have written about our family. Memories are preserved—my version, anyway—and stories are saved. The children love to hear about themselves and, of course, I love to read to them. I cherish my many journals. Those are the most important, but someday I’ll finish the novel I’m working on…someday…

Writing is the welcome mat into one's world. I write to give back. I write for my children. I write to welcome others into my world. Those who write, remember. And, those who have written are remembered.

The Write Path

My earliest memory of writing was scribbling on paper while my mom wrote out her bills and balanced her checkbook. I remember saying, “Mommy, look, I’m writing cursive!” I also remember writing my name with pen on my neighbor’s house and denying that I did it. I hid while he yelled at me, but he knew I could hear him.

Thanks to my parents need for a Sunday nap, I kept journals from a young age. In second grade, my teacher offered an after-school workshop series to teach us how to write poetry. I have loved writing poetry ever since. I also loved that teacher so much that I wrote a poem about her that was published in our local paper. The poem was called, “Mrs. Glover, We All Love Her.” That is really the only formal training in creative writing that I have had.

The only truly useful piece of academic information I learned in high school was how to write a research paper. That too was an extra credit tutorial, believe it or not! I greatly admired the teacher who gave me that assignment, because she always used the correct words and never spoke extra “ums” or “ahs.” She was very kind and thoughtful with her words, and that made them very powerful.

I have always enjoyed letter writing, and I have kept just about every love-note I have ever received from family, friends, and boyfriends. I’m sentimental that way. I think the written word can be a balm, especially little notes of thanks or encouragement that you can hold in your hand and keep with you always.

In college, I studied TV journalism, which is vastly different from other forms of writing, but closer to how people actually talk. My career/passion has been interviewing others and telling their stories. There are lots of good stories out there, and I enjoy giving them a voice.

Now that I am no longer working in television, I spend my free time writing these wonderful stories for magazines. I have also written a family newsletter every month now for the last four years. My background in journalism has lead me down a new exciting path in life—family history research!

I would not claim to be particularly skilled at writing, but I have really enjoyed this gift/interest and have found ways to develop it and to let it enrich my life. Writing has taken me places I never would have gone. I guess you could say that I’ve come a long way from the days of scribbling on my neighbor’s house, something I’m sure my neighbor is also very happy about!

The write relationship

I have to be perfectly honest and that is I actually never really liked writing, in fact I have always hated it. I can’t spell and don’t get me started on grammar. Writing for me was always a must and credit in school I needed to pass. But somehow my teachers loved my work. I have had many English teachers and creative writing teacher ask me to attend classes or workshops, and I would always decline, which I regret now. I felt that my writing quality was based on the grammar and spelling alone. How wrong I was.

It wasn’t until later in life that I realized how much I do love creating stories. I would create wonderful fantasy world for my little boy, each night I would tell of new adventures and characters. He ate up every word and would always ask for more. That is when I realized that I do loved to write.

I never decide that I am going to write a story. I just start hearing voices in my head talking to me and playing out sense. I usually will dream about each character for several weeks’ even months before I attempt to write them down. I am one that truly believes that characters in book create themselves. They develop themselves and use writers as vessels to care the story.
Writing is an outlet for me a way to keep the voices silent in my head. Yes I am truly crazy! My husband on the other had says that it is not creative thinking it is called Sketsophrenia. What ever the name or disease I enjoy telling stories. I love to making people laugh, cry and sympathy's with characters that I formed out of dreams.

Wishing I Had. . .the Write Stuff

My relationship with writing is complicated. I started out as a reader who wanted to write books. In high school I got to go on a special writer's retreat at Ernest Hemmingway's house in California. We spent a lot of time that day writing and reading our writing. It was then that I realized that my life wasn't as interesting as I had first thought. This led me to believe that fiction was the way to go for me. So in my youth I wrote a lot of short stories.

Then I morphed into a college student who wanted to be a journalist. I found it hard to chase down stories and felt like I was totally invading people's privacy. I decided that news is for the most part depressing and so I stopped writing. The only writing I did was for the Ward or R.S. Newsletter or my journal. I found writing in my journal to be a great form of relief from stress and filled pages and pages with the minutia of each day in the life of Tara. What I enjoy most about journal writing is that you can see yourself progress in maturity. At the same time, when I see what kind of person I was years ago, I sometimes cringe at the things I thought and said and did.

Currently, I blog. What I like best about blogging is that people can comment on what you have written and then you have feedback on your ideas, sometimes instantly. I should be writing argument drafts for the Young Adult Fiction class I am taking at Bucknell, but instead I am blogging it up.

One thing I absolutely have never ever felt comfortable with is poetry. I have a hard time reading it and an even more difficult time writing it. Every creative writing class I have ever been in has required me to write at least one poem. Each time I got my pieces back, the teacher would comment that my poem would make a better short story. I think poetry just isn't my thing.

I would like to get back into writing, even just in my journal or better yet, some magazine articles. Hopefully, my involvement with this group will inspire me to do just that.