Natalia M. Sylvester

The writing software I use makes you press a button labeled “quit” whenever you exit a file. I was reading through some chapters of my novel in progress last night, and I felt like I was reading it through some muddy glasses through which everything looked terrible. I started to feel embarrassed for myself (you know that feeling when you watch a comedian onstage, but he’s really not funny? It’s the uncomfortable embarrassment that’s the worst). I could see strings of weak sentences, clumps of imagery that were just trying too hard. And I began to feel really, really discouraged. It was my “What the hell am I thinking?” moment, the one where you wonder if you’re the only person in the world crazy enough to have faith in yourself, or if you should just join the skeptics and not risk the disappointment of having tried but gotten nowhere.

I decided to step away from the computer, and when I went to close the file, there was the option staring me in the face: Quit. And I thought, “Okay, so I’m being challenged, but I won’t go down that easy.” I clicked the button, knowing I’d reopen it the very next day, and took the rest of the evening (and I admit, some of this morning) to mope and feel sorry for myself (it’s a process, after all). Read the rest of this entry »

Last night I went to a reading by the poet Maureen Seaton, who read from her book of poems, Cave of the Yellow Volkswagen, her memoir, Sex Talks to Girls and her chapbook, America Loves Carney. The theme of these readings at the University of Miami is “Lyric Hybrid,” because all the writers have stepped outside of their usual genres to explore new forms of writing. You can listen to last night’s reading and the previous one by A. Manette Ansay on UM’s Creative Writing website.

My favorite part of the night was when talk turned to whether or not Seaton had thought of writing a novel. She replied that she’d tried, that she had a lot of scenes written, but no plot. She joked that she was waiting for the Plot Fairy to bring her one.

Read the rest of this entry »

Today I’m writing about family relationships as part of a mass blogging event.*

One of my favorite first lines (from a book I’ll admit I haven’t finished reading) is from Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina—

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.

Writing about family relationships in some capacity is almost inevitable when you’re writing a work of fiction. Even if your story isn’t about family relationships, we usually end up learning about a character’s family life and childhood because it’s part of what makes them who they are.

I think of  Tolstoy’s words often because they apply so well to writing, and not just to writing about families. Every well-developed character has their own version of what happiness is and what happiness isn’t. One person’s hell might be another person’s bliss. Everyone’s happy or unhappy in their own special way.

One of my favorite memories is from the summer when my family and I lived in Texas. Being from Peru, then living in Miami, we weren’t used to living far from a beach, so we’d drive two hours every weekend to South Padre Island, listening to the Beatles’ “Hard Day’s Night” album on cassette. We’d pack a huge cooler full of chips, sodas, and sandwiches, and we’d play volleyball and paddleball, and when the sun was about to set and we’d run out of food, we’d drive back home.

To me, it was bliss. But maybe to some other kid, in some other family with a different family relationship, it would have sucked. Maybe he was afraid of the water, or his parents were too overprotective of him, never letting him step outside of an umbrella’s protection. Maybe a summer like this would’ve been like dangling a carrot before his eyes, reminding him of a childhood he could never have.

Which brings me to the exercise: Write a scene about a character’s happiest family memory, then use the same events to write about another character’s worst family memory. Both memories are the same, and the only variables are the characters and their family relationships—but that makes all the difference.

Feel free to post your scenes below or link to your blog so we can read them!

*Today I’m participating in a mass blogging. WOW! Women on Writing has gathered a group of blogging buddies to write about family relationships. Why family relationships? We’re celebrating the release of Therese Walsh’s debut novel today. The Last Will of Moira Leahy (Random House, October 13, 2009) is about a mysterious journey that helps a woman learn more about herself and her twin, whom she lost when they were teenagers. Visit the Muffin www.wow-womenonwriting.com/blog.html to read what Therese has to say about family relationships and view the list of all my blogging buddies. And make sure you visit theresewalsh.com to find out more about the author.