Writing

I have often agonized over my lower-middle class status as uninteresting, uninspiring, and un-story like. In fact, I have walked away from writing for long periods because I felt I had nothing important or original to say. I have stifled my writing, my voice, my creativity because I was afraid I was not good enough. As is often the case, I am wrong because even the most mundane can be ‘good.’ Case in point: Tillie Olsen’s “As I Stand Here Ironing.” Talk about a mundane start to something far from mundane.

As a teacher (in a past life), I often felt as Mr. Sedaris eloquently expressed here:

“My students were middle-class kids who were ashamed of their background. They felt like unless they grew up in poverty, they had nothing to write about…I felt sorry for these kids, that they thought their whole past was absolutely worthless because it was less than remarkable.” – David Sedaris, from an interview in January Magazine.

Write about a less-than-remarkable aspect of your life. (From The Pocket Muse by Monica Wood)