Write What You Know

A few weeks ago it was unseasonably cold for the DC area. The temperature read 60, but it wasn’t a 60 I was used to anymore. Ten years ago, I might’ve been wearing flip flops in this weather that was windy and raining, but not anymore. I still have that nasal-y Chicago accent, but sadly, I have lost my tolerance for the cooler weather.

I’d sent Hadley to school without a jacket, and after we dropped her off, Harper and I went grocery shopping.  By the time we got home, I was worried that Hadley would be freezing cold at recess if she didn’t have a jacket.  So Harper and I went to school to drop one off.

We met Hadley half way down the hallway, and she was clearly agitated. Waving her arms in the air and walking in long strides, she whispered as loudly as she could (no yelling in the hallways, kids), “MOM! I’m in the middle of literacy centers! What are you doing here?”

Handing her the jacket, I said, “I was afraid you’d be cold.  It’s so cold out.”

“Thanks, Mom. I’m in the middle of writing a story,” she said and pivoted in the other direction.

“Hey,” I said, “What’s it about? What are you writing about?”

“I can’t say yet. I’ll let you know when it’s done.”

“OK,” I said. “Bye, Hadley.”

“Bye, Hadley,” Harper said and Hadley turned around and gave Harper a hug.

Here’s what Hadley wrote:

In Writing True: The Art and Craft of Creative Nonfiction, Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz write that if we write CNF well, “readers not only enter our worlds, but they reenter their own worlds in new ways.” If I were reading Hadley’s story for facts, I would ask, “Where are the fighting scenes? Where are the parts when you’re yelling at each other?” However, if I’m reading for truth, I enter the world that Hadley and Harper live in, and I see the world we live in together in a new way. And when the fights happen again, I have a story that contains a truth about these two girls to help me navigate.

 

*Thanks to everyone who ordered Summer Journals!  They should be on their way. Please let me know what you think of them and how you’re using them.

I re-stocked the shop if you’re interested in purchasing one (or five?) for your kids.