Creative Writing - A Lesson on Seeing the Stories in Life (the Concept of 'Show, Don't Tell' in Writing).
Everything has its story, even a teacup abandoned on a table in someone's kitchen, the dregs turned cold, the curtains still drawn. For the cup begins the story of someone's day - a businessman, perhaps, late for a meeting, his wife and children still asleep. He didn't wake them. It doesn't matter. They don't see him anyway - he is a ship in their night, gently moving around them, first at dawn and again at night.
Or perhaps it is a student, back in bed, blocking out a careless night. Or a young woman who took a phone call and rushed straight out, leaving the tea and the closed curtains and a meowing cat looking up with hungry eyes. Maybe she will return ecstatic; maybe she will be distraught. Maybe a neighbour with a key will arrive to feed the cat.
Everything has its story, even houses which smile or scowl with the vibrations of their dwellers, past and present. See the house that shines on the corner, children spilling onto the grass, muddy knees, fine hair knotted by the wind. Then look beyond, to the house that used to be proud; its windows never opened; its door never welcoming. Maybe inside is a little, old couple, out of touch with their own stark world. They have closed the door on the butterflies and the climbing clematis that tries to bloom in the garden, defiant in the face of decay. See the old ornaments lined up on the windowsill; relics from another time - a time before their children grew up and moved away and left them with only themselves.
In a dirty alley, a teenager sprays all of his hopes and frustrations onto a wall. Somewhere above, love spills from a cramped flat in the greyest tower block; a concrete jungle brimming with the pain of financial failure - whilst in a mansion cocooned by the English countryside, a couple sit in silence, as though they'd never met at all. Later she will say she has a yoga class, but she hasn't really. It's just that the facade seems easier than the truth.
Creative writing is more than the words of a pen on paper. Creative writing searches inwards, seering through thin masquerades until it discovers the depths within. Sometimes the depths are so deep it is almost as though you are falling into a well, down, down, down. Creative writing takes nothing at face value, because everything has hidden sides, constantly expanding like a small universe.....
Especially people......
There is a man on a bench, his eyes unseeing; lost. Behind those eyes hides his soul, buried beyond the debris that deadened his heart. Inside him, drink is drowning him, as though he is trapped in a tunnel as it gushes in. To passers by he is still; silent; minding his own business. Inside, he is screaming to get out of his own skin, back to different days.
A man from another land sits in a newsagents, watching the cold rain batter the windows. His mind takes him to other places - places he knows - like a time capsule; for the mind has no barriers. They were the days when his customers talked to him; when the sun shone every day on life. They were his friends. Now he has only the view of a busy road and the infinite world of his own thoughts.
A lady holds a door and you walk on through, thanking her as you pass. Her face contains the etchings of her life - crow's feet, smiling upwards; lines where she's laughed. Life's joys emanate as though her face, like a map, tells the story of all that she's been - loved; loving; joyful. Life has been kind to her.
A baby blinks against the newness of his life, all of his yesterdays and tomorrows already caught in one tiny soul. His story has not yet been told, but one day it will. As he lays wide-eyed in his pram, beside a noisy football pitch, he can hear the sound of his brothers and the other boys. They are jubilant; victorious - in their hearts they have already become the heroes of their time. The optimism of youth keeps their ambitions burning like fires of hope - one day, the stark reality of adulthood will teach them that, most of the time, dreams end up crumbling into nothing. For now, though, they are protected from such cruel disappointments.
Everything has a story, but even a story has its own life. It decides, itself, when it wants to be born - demands, even. Like the breeze outside, gently touching, then picking up, like a tornado, it whirls through the mind of its writer, refusing to let up until its voice has been heard. It goes on and on, because there are stories everywhere - in every street; behind every curtain; in the rhythm of music; in the silence that falls on a darkened night. They begin with the cup; with the student; with the lady with the shining eyes. They go back in time, like a film on rewind, or sometimes even forwards. Once they begin there is no stopping them, for they are persistent; nagging; continuing until they are caught by the writer as though in a net. Most times they are not even invited, but come anyway, in shops; whilst walking; even in the stillness as the moon casts its light.
The writer lives a double life - the life on the surface and the life hidden deep within. Sometimes, one or the other takes over, like a battle inside. The writer sees things that other people don't bother to notice...objects; feelings; somebody's journey. Yet in the end, when years have passed, even the storyteller is no longer there - but the stories remain, entwined in the fabric of life, as they wait, patiently, for someone else to bring them alive.
A bird flies, collecting seeds and twigs and stories - from branch to branch; tree to tree; street to street; world to world - and everywhere in-between......
- A Murder / Mystery Poem: Thriller about a Mysteriou...
This is a poem about a mysterious woman. Who is she and what secrets does she hold? It is a thriller expressed through poetry; a story with blood and gunshot...that travels five thousand miles...
Comments
Thank you...your hub was very interesting! Glad I found you on HP!
Great hub! Enjoyed reading it and pretty much related to it, having published my first book a few months back. Well done!
You certainly do have a way with words. I admire the way you use them. I can tell my stories, but I doubt they have the flow and feelings that you show, just using examples. Thanks, so much, for sharing! ;-)
I found this article to be deep and meaningful. Thanks for sharing your expertise with others!
One of d best blogs i have been to.. truly innovative.. I envy u:)
I enjoyed the Hub, my husband thinks I'm silly when I make up a story about people and things. My children always enjoyed it, my oldest son has that talent as well.
Hi Polly
My Gosh what a lovely hub!! While I was reading it I just couldn't help pictures coming out of it one sentence at a time. I really enjoyed it! Thanks
I like your hub, I hit the awesome button and I am one of your followers now.
I really enjoyed this hub. It is beautifully written. I need to read your other hubs now. : )
I sometimes wonder how people can think and not write!
Really useful hub
I liked this hub. Reading this brings me many ideas for my creative writing.
I really like this hub :) It has nice imagery and makes sense in every way. It has a great way of portraying what we think and how you think. Amazing :)
Wonderful hub Polly, you have a real talent for creative writing very beautiful prose. I loved the premise that all objects resemble something and will certainly use the ideas in your hub for my own work. Brilliant job. :)
I enjoyed this and I totally agree that everything in life has a story :) Makes the world seem an exciting place doesn't it?
Thanks for sharing
I was totally entranced by this Hub - subject matter and writing beautifully fused!
Especially loved that last line: "...the stories remain, entwined in the fabric of life, as they wait, patiently, for someone else to bring them alive." And the concept of the writer's double life. Just awesome.
Love and peace
Tony
I again have read this and you see, it has helped me out of a low point, remebering that everything and everyone has a story is sooo important, thanks!
Everything has a story, so right and so true. Deciding to follow such a good writer has been a really wise choice. Rated up and beautiful. And stumbled too. :)
You are an excellent writer! Thank you for this illuminating Hub. On a side note, I had a client who became a millionaire growing and selling one single plant— clematis. He sells it to Walmart and Home Depot. :D
This was absolutely fantastic. I wish I could write like that. Rated this everything but .
That was quite enjoyable and so beautifully written. I'm so impressed that I'm slightly lost for words right now yet I want to write something meaningful. How's that for creative writing? Or lack there of?
It's so true that you can savour one small moment, for lack of a better way to put it, and turn that moment into an entire story. Thanks for the good read.
Thank you for writing this beautiful journey into the life of everyday things that want their story told. It is the writer that brings to life the stories and you definitely know how to do that with talent and sensitivity.
More or less we all see the same things in life, but the way those things resonate with our soul and captures our imagination is different. Some will see the Moon as the eternal symbol of romantic love, while others will see it just like another planet in the immensity of our galaxy or a new challenge to conquer and proudly place a “victory” flag on.
It is the writer (or any sensitive soul for that matter) that brings a new perspective and breaths life into the ordinary.
Awesome... Just read this hub today and honestly you got me thinking that there's still a lot of grounds to cover.. Hope you've written some books! Really wonderful
Wonderful writing, Polly! I'd say you can safely call yourself a writer :-)
Very creative :D and well written.
Polly C
This is really wonderful writing-not only do you manage to inspire and show us how to tell a story-but this also has so many stories within it.Genius hub-it touched a chord.Thank you-I have been neglecting this area of writing lately-I need to get back to it.
Polly C, what a lovely hub, and so true, there are stories in the most unexpected places. My husband just added a horse to our little "ranch", and I'm quite certain he (the horse, of course!) is here simply to spark some stories.
again you have some incredible talents and this simply proves it, I know that you will see success, as you have a talent for writing, this is awesome, and yes everything and everyone have a story.
Lovely - you could write a wonderful story with all the elements in this hub! :)
You have wonderful insight and a gift for putting it into words. Please continue to nurture this talent.
Beautiful hub. We all have a story to tell. Great photos too.
This is a great hub filled with truths about how everything can be used as a subject for writing. I find the most interesting things that beg a story, but do not always take the time to do so.
Beautiful is too smal a word for writing of this quality. You tell me I should write a book, but I swear this here is the beginning of a book already! Such wonderful images you used: Lives 'defiant in the face of decay'....teenagers 'spraying hopes' on walls... ..'concrete jungles' of financial failure ... boys 'heroes of their time'!
Yes, your story is like a small universe of your creation...and you've set it in motion here already..! Keep writing always....you're just meant to! :)
Beautiful article. Filled with sensory images and a great example of 'show, don't tell.' Loved it.
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