Waves Upon Waves of Stories...

 

  

 

 

To all my current and future #DCSPeeps (DECIDE, COMMIT, SUCCEED), welcome to my new series in my continuing effort to inspire, amuse, and entertain you! Each Monday I will select a new word to analyze how it might apply to our writing lives and also give you a peek into my childhood growing up in the swamps of southern Louisiana, so kick back, put your feet up, and check out my story about TODAY'S WORD:

 

STORIES

 

I feel like I've been writing all my life. I have copies of poetry I wrote beginning at age 8. Even then, voices whispered in my head...calling to me and wanting to spill out onto paper. By age 11 I was entering writing contests, and even won a contest sponsored by my hometown library to receive a copy of MISTY OF CHINCOTEAGUE. It even had a book plate on the inside with my name inscribed on it and I thought I had won the lottery.

 

Over the years I've written snippets and full manuscripts of hundreds of stories...picture books, chapter books, young adult fantasy, essays...stories swirling and dancing through my mind  when there was no one else around to keep me company. 

 

Writers ALWAYS have another story waiting to be told. It might go into hiding and we have to work hard at enticing the muse to show themselves. And sometimes the stories tumble out of us so quickly, we stumble over them, just trying to write all of them down before they fade from our memory.

But there is one thing that ALL writers have in common. It is "written" in our DNA to gather words together in the hopes we can create a strong enough picture to leave our imprint on the world...

My latest book, Are YOU The Missing Piece?, is now available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and other fine retailers. Last week, it became a #1 bestseller  in Austrailia, Canada, the UK, and the US. All those stories now flowing out into the universe like waves in the ocean...and maybe one day, flowing back to me...

 

 

Children's book author, Donna L Martin, has been writing since she was eight years old. She is a 4th Degree Black Belt in TaeKwonDo by day and a 'ninja' writer of children’s picture books, chapter books and young adult novels by night. Donna is a BOOK NOOK REVIEWS host providing the latest book reviews on all genres of children’s books. She is also a book reviewer for Harper Collins, and a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Donna is a lover of dark chocolate, time at the beach, and good stories.

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Dreamers vs Storytellers

New writers often hear people telling them to "find your writer's voice".  Well I think I might have something wrong with me because I'm hearing more than one voice.  And I'm not sure where those voices are coming from.  It seems like my mind never stills and those voices range from small children wishing for grand adventures to young adults finding themselves in the middle of a mystery and everything in between.  Voices all dying to come out and spill their stories.

A friend of mine commented the other day that it seemed like I could somehow conjure sensory images in my stories until the reader could almost feel what the main character was feeling.  That I could capture just the right words to describe a world which invited others to come in and stay awhile.  They, however, sometimes seem to struggle to bring their own visions to life.  At the time I gave what I hoped were some useful suggestions, but I have thought a lot since then about their observation of my work and I've come to a conclusion.  I believe beginner writers evolve over time into one of two types of writers.  Some are Dreamers and some are Storytellers.

Dreamers have wonderful stories swirling around in their heads.  True to life characters and worlds so real one could almost touch them.  But there is where they stay...in someone's head.  For whatever reason...either through lack of a skill yet to be learned or simply the inability to bring that story to life no matter how hard they try, Dreamers are trapped in the land of dreams and readers are never invited into that world.

 

Storytellers, however, command attention.  They play with the written word and invoke their readers' senses until the worlds and characters of their stories seem as real as the readers themselves.  To read a great book is to catch a glimpse of the storyteller's mind and oh what dreams are hiding there just waiting to be shown to the world.

For myself, I hope one day I evolve into a true storyteller.  Until then I will keep writing and keep encouraging those voices in my head to speak to me and maybe one day I will bring my own great story to life...