2-4 Page Autobiography ~ Eek!

I hate writing about myself.  I'm much more interested in writing about fictional characters with all their crazy life adventures than I am in my own.  But alas, I must write a 2-4 page autobiography.  It's a requirement for the adoption profile my husband and I are putting together.  This is the current writing project at the forefront of my mind, yet when I sit down to work on it I just stare at the blank screen.  All words elude me.  Why is writing about oneself so dang difficult?

For starters, there's thirty years of life to pick and choose from.  What do I put in? What do I leave out? How do I make it interesting so a potential birth mother doesn't pass it over? Humor is not a talent of mine, so how do I be serious without being boring? Yeah, I have no answer to that.

Perhaps I'll begin in third person; maybe that will help me view myself as a fictional character.  Except I'll have plenty of material to draw from and no need to create anything.  I can see the choices now:

I was born on such and such day in 1982 at such and such P.M. 

or:

Carey and his sister Dawn were preparing to celebrate their shared birthday when Carey's little girl decided she wanted to take part in the festivities.  Charity came out into the world just in time to be the third member of the family with the same birthday.

Okay.  Now I'm just amusing myself and procrastinating.  But it would be much more fun to write in third person.  Just saying. :)

Got a favorite writing resource?

To answer the question, I don't. Not currently anyway. I have only a few things I keep handy when writing, and I don't use them as often as I probably should. But when I do pull them off the shelf, they're not very helpful. My grammar book is a college textbook that doesn't explain anything very well. My thesaurus and dictionary don't always have the words I'm looking for. (What's up with that?)

I think it's time for some updating, hence the question. If you have a favorite, I'd like to know. I've been trying to find a good grammar book and there's so many to choose from. Perhaps it doesn't matter as long as I have one. But if you have one you swear by, post it below please.

I wish I had something to offer in return, but I don't. Instead, this is just me asking for help from all you wonderful writers. :)

July Blog Chain

Time for another Absolute Write Blog Chain entry.  This month's prompt involves slavery and freedom.  My piece of fiction was inspired by a topic that is near to my heart.  I have not experienced anything like this, but I have a soft spot for children.  And the tragic fact is child abuse happens.  It goes on undetected for far too long.  So take care before reading.  There are no graphic details, but it may still be hard to read.  When you are finished, I hope you'll click on over to this month's other participants and see what they had to say.  Thanks in advance.



Mommy is very smart.  When that nice lady comes to visit, Mommy makes sure I am dressed nice and cleaned up.  I think Mommy knows what the lady is looking for and what questions she will ask.  Mommy always tells me what to say, and I know I must say what she tells me.

When the lady comes to the door, Mommy tells me to let her in.  The lady looks over me, but I know she will not see what I want her to.  Mommy is too smart.  She never leaves marks where people will see.  So I smile and tell the lady I am glad to see her.  We sit in the living room while Mommy prepares a glass of iced tea for the lady.  "How are you?" she asks me.  It's a question meant to get me to start talking.  I want to show her the bruise on my chest and tell her how much my body hurts.  And I want to tell her how much my stomach hurts, that I have not eaten in two days.  But Mommy can hear me from the kitchen and I don't dare whisper.  "Great," I reply.  My survival depends on how good I can lie.  But Mommy is the expert, not me.  My voice gives me away, and I look at the kitchen door as Mommy comes out.  She looks at me, and I know I am in trouble.  But now Mommy is smiling at the lady and talking about how proud my teachers are of me.  I don't know if Mommy is proud.  She always tells me how stupid I am.

I watch Mommy and the lady talk, and I know my time here is limited.  But I don't mind.  Because that means I will soon be free.  I will no longer be Mommy's slave to do as she commands.  And Mommy will not be able to lie.  You see, I am smart too, though Mommy doesn't think so.  And when I die tonight, Mommy will be very happy.  But tomorrow, my teacher will find a note on her desk that I left after school.  And she will know what Mommy did. 

I will be free.  And Mommy will become the slave.



Now, head on over to the following sites:
orion_mk3
knotanes
meowzbark
Ralph Pines
randi.lee
writingismypassion (you are here)
pyrosama
bmadsen
Poppy
areteus
Sweetwheat
Tex_Maam
MelodySRV
Tompsy77
more to come...stay tuned!

Writing Weakness

As writers, I think we all have strengths and weaknesses.  My strength is dialogue.  The easiest part of writing for me is writing dialogue.  However, I have a heck of a time getting the scene right.  I can picture it in my head well enough, but translating that to the page is quite a task.  Part of my problem is my tendency to type too fast.  I get excited and in a hurry, and I don't spend as much time on each scene as I should.  I know I can always fix it during editing, but it would be much easier if I allowed myself to slow down a bit.  A lot of writers set goals for themselves to write a certain amount of words each time they write; I think I might need to start limiting myself. 

Another problem I have is finding a balance.  Personally, I don't like an abundance of description in books.  I prefer just enough details to adequately picture the scene.  So that being said, I think I tend to put too little in.

So I'm curious.  What's your writing weakness? Please share below.