A little reminder

It turns out that one of my short stories that I submitted into my school's anthology did get published! I was both surprised and happy, since I submitted a short story last year and didn't get the honor of it being in the book. The story is called, A little reminder. I wrote it for an assignment for my English class last semester. It involves death, (since that was what the assignment called for), being there for the people you love, and learning and growing from past experiences.

A Little Reminder

Colleen Redmond

I never thought about death as much as I did when my Aunt Lisa died. Her death was somewhat unexpected to my mom and me. But I guess that’s just how death can be. You never know when it will take you from this world. Aunt Lisa’s death was a little reminder for me. It came like a whisper in my sleep. I heard a soft and gentle voice that came into my ear that said, “It’s almost time.” When I heard this, I immediately woke up, my heart pounding like a drum and the hair on my spine sticking straight up like grass in the Everglades. Almost time for what? For me to die? I thought to myself.

    I remembered I was sleeping in Aunt Lisa’s room that night. And I suddenly remembered that I was looking at an old photo album with pictures of her and my mom when they were younger. I recalled that all of these pictures had something in common; they were all taken at the same place. The place had lots of trees that were as tall as skyscrapers, and there happened to be archways covered with vines and purple flowers. In the background there were water fountains with statues of angels spitting water from their mouths.

     I wondered where this was. It looked so pleasant and beautiful, that a snapshot couldn't do it justice. But then I realized that each photo that I saw was like a piece of a puzzle, that it made up the whole place. Once I realized this, I tried to find the rest of the pictures to make up the whole place, but by that point I became tired and fell right asleep. My hair covered my face like a Halloween mask and the sunlight came in through the window, and all I could see were silky strands and the bright light caused me to squint. I quickly wiped my obnoxious hair from my eyes and remembered that I was up late the night before looking at old photographs. They were all scattered over the cranberry carpet like juice stains. I picked them up and put them back in a large cardboard box that had ‘Lisa’s photos’ written in black sharpie. While trying to put the box back on a shelf in the closet, other things came crashing down. I covered my head and tried to move out of the way, but things kept on falling. Eventually everything stopped. My mom walked in with a bowl of Mac and cheese in her hand. “Are you okay, honey?”

 Her face was expressionless, like items falling from the closet was normal. I told her I was fine and that I was going to clean up the mess I had just created. But before she had the chance to respond, I wanted to show her the old photographs that I had come across the night before. I reached inside the cardboard box and pulled out the photos that I had found so interesting of my mom and my Aunt.

    I gave her the few that I had come across, and she slowly took them in her grasp. She just stared at them like she was trying to fully comprehend what she was looking at. She flipped through them and I could tell that tears were starting to form in her eyes. My Aunt Lisa had passed away only three months prior but I began to think that I shouldn't have shown these pictures of her and Aunt Lisa.

     “Where did you find these?” Her voice was shaky and she began to wipe away the tears that were already sliding down her cheek.

     I was afraid to answer because I felt that she would be mad at me. I started to regret having shown these pictures to her. I didn't want to hurt her more than she already was and now I only made it worse.

    But before I could start to answer, she told me that I had Aunt Lisa’s eyes, hazel and almond shaped. Her smile made her dimples show just like mine, and when my Mom stated this I noticed that her smile formed dimples too.

     Of all the days that Aunt Lisa lived in this house with my Mom and me, I felt like I always had to keep a distance. She had a serious soul and her hazel eyes proved that. I could tell that she was close to my Mom, as they were practically twins with only 17 months separating them. And then there was me, chewing my peanut butter and jelly sandwich in the kitchen while my Mom and Aunt Lisa would talk a mile a minute and laugh as loud as mockingbirds. Out of all those days, most of which  being mostly hot and deadly, getting sunburned from the Yuma, Arizona sun, I never took up the chance to tell her everything and anything. My Mom worked full time and most days it was just me and Aunt Lisa at home. Silence would be the sound that came out of my mouth. But it wouldn't be a problem because she would be the one who would fill those golden moments when I would be thinking to myself. She would listen to Fleet wood Mac and dust the furniture at the same time. Her talent for singing would come through at these moments. I only wish that I had had enough courage to sing along with her. Inside I was yearning to join her, but I didn't want to bother her. She would sing real loud, as if she were performing at a Karaoke show. When I was upstairs, I could hear every word she sang.

    “Will you ever win? Rhiannon!” she would sing over and over again. After a while, I got accustomed to listening to this song called Rhiannon by Fleet wood Mac. “Taken by, taken by the sky” was the last line of the song. Whenever I listen to this song, I always think to myself that Aunt Lisa was taken by the sky.

     Once my Mom finished looking at the old photographs of her and Aunt Lisa, she hugged me tightly. I had no choice but to hug her back and wrapped my arms around her. She patted my hair and held me ever so tightly. In my ear she whispered, “Don’t leave me. I won’t let you go.” She began to sniffle and stroked my hair more; she wasn't letting me go. I stroked her head too and tried to swallow my tears, but they just ended up falling and landed on her sweater.

      “Oh, Anne, you’re all that I have left.” Her voice quivered and I tried to hush her and calm her down, though it’s always been the opposite. I whispered a little reminder and told her that I will always be here.

a better chance at getting published

A few days ago I entered three writing projects to my school's anthology. I also entered a short story last year, but didn't make the mark of getting it in the fancy book. So I tried again this year, and decided it would increase my chance of getting something in it by submitting three works of writing.

They are all from what I wrote last semester~ two poems and a short story. The names include: Rainy Day, (short poem) Looking out of a Glass Window (longer, narrative poem), and A Little Reminder (short story).

I'll let you know what happens!

health and pearls,
Colleen

Hidden in the Rain

I actually finished another short story, but only because I had to. I am taking a creative writing class and I volunteered to be the first person to write a story, submit where my classmates can view and read it. But I have to admit that I am a little nervous, since my classmates will not only be reading it, but also critiquing it. But I'm open to hearing different views and ways to make my story better.  It is titled Hidden in the Rain. (Thank you Natasha for the title).

It was actually a lot of fun to write. A while ago, I blogged about a story idea I had- seeing the moon in Yuma. One of the reasons why I volunteered to be first for this assignment, was because I already had a story idea in mind. I ended up changing a lot, and adding more since the original story had no ending and while writing I had to come up with something.

I actually like how my story turned out, and I feel like my hard work and long hours spent at the computer paid off. I just wonder what my classmates think....

Something that my head thought and my hand wrote

Last night I started writing some lyrics, that came out to be poems. I think I got inspired by watching an interview of Nelly Furtado, and she was talking about how her top hit songs came to be, and how and why she came up with the lyrics and the meaning of each song. I really felt like writing, and I have a story in process now, yet didn't feel like putting energy into my character. Instead I decided to write what came into my mind, and I got two poems, I guess you could say from it.
They have literal meanings as well as metaphor meaning.

The first poem is called Let the Rain Fall
   The rain falls on me, I raise my head to the heavens and open
my mouth to let it all in. Sometimes you just have to trust and let
it all come in. Let it come in and don't tell it to turn away. Don't lock the door or make sure there are no spaces in between. Don't hide under a tree to stay dry, or put up your polka dotted umbrella.
Don't be like the cats who scurry and hurry to stay dry, but be like the ducks who turn out to have all the luck. For embrace it, welcome all your troubles to knock on your door, and let it come in.
Be brave, yet strong, firm, yet gentle, patient and kind. For you will know what to do when it comes to mind. Have faith and hope, but do not mope. Raise your head to the heavens and accept the rain and let it fall into your mouth, and on your skin and eyelashes, for you will soon see it was meant to be.

The second poem I wrote is called How Will it Be
   How will it be when you are not in my boat anymore. Somehow, someday you will find another
one that will be better. We may cross paths, or you may decide to come in mine again. 
When you do there will be new people whom you may have not met, and they might have taken the place of you. Your seat may be taken, and you will have to create a new one that will only belong to you. Your view and perspective from your seat will be different, not necessarily worse or better just different. You will see the ocean in a new light, the mountain top from your angle may not be as good as a sight as you remember it, or it may seem like there are shorter days and longer nights.
The birds will be flying higher because they have caught something, and I know that I am flying higher because I caught you.

Results from Writing Contest

Last week I got results back from the writing contest I entered. I payed an extra $10 to get a critique. While reading through the critique, I realized that my short story wasn't as good as I thought it was. I knew it wasn't amazing, yet I thought it was some what decent.

Here are some of the things that were listed:
-The beginning needs to be better, I mean aren't scissors usually sharp?
-What's the overall POINT of the story. Is it the donation of the hair, or the horrendous haircut?
-What is the Plot. Sure a bad haircut is a big deal, but is it the end of all situations?
or characterization, the hair dresser can't speak good English and doesn't understand why the haircut is bad. The lady donating her hair to charity is vain and selfish  if she's worried about her haircut after doing something so selfless by donating her locks.
-She also said that my piece needs a clear direction in tone, theme and pacing.

As for scores, 5 being the strongest: Subject I got a 5, Content I got a 3 and Technical I got a 3.

Just Yesterday I received the results for the contest overall. I didn't receive a place in the contest, but I think I'm going to enter another story in the future.

Seeing the Moon in Yuma

Just two days ago I started writing another short story, set in Yuma Arizona. I happened to do some research on this place. It is known to be the sunniest place on earth. The summers are very hot, around 120 degrees and the winters tend to be warm. I chose this place because I think it would be a really cool experience to see Arizona. I've heard it's beautiful, and writing a story where it takes place there is even more cool.

The opening scene happens to be raining, in the month of May. This is very unlikely, since it's always hot in Yuma, but I think the inevitable happens in real life, though it may seem impossible. The girl happens to talk a walk in the rain, getting soaked but loving it. It's what she's been missing and thirsting for, since the sun always shines brightly in Yuma.

Though she likes living in Yuma, she has been there all her life and wants to see what's outside of this small town. She has heard that just twenty miles form Yuma live Native Americans. She wonders about them and their lives, living like outcasts, with the beauty of Arizona all around them. At night she looks up at the moon like a big balloon in the night sky and thinks about those Native Americans looking up at the same moon.

There happens to be an antagonist in this story, who makes the room grow cold. As well as other things that happen to arise in this short story about a girl learning about herself, life and all she has to offer. 
We will see if I enter it into another writing contest... but for now it's only written in sharpie on pieces of paper in my notebook.

Short Story Revealed

I have decided to reveal my short story that I entered for the contest. Like I said in the post- written, sent, waiting, it kind of just came to me, and I wrote it in one night. The story's pretty simple, and the contest only called for a couple hundred words. I hope you like it!

written, sent, waiting...

The scissors were sharp and cold, like vampire teeth. It touched my neck with a sudden chill, unexpectedly. This is the first sentence of my short story. (Sorry, it may seem like some one is hurting themselves, ect.. but it's not. It's about a girl who gets a hair cut actually!:)) The title is called Cold Scissors.
Something I've wanted to do for a long time was to write a story and enter it into a writing contest. Well, I have finally done just that. A few nights ago, I was thinking about this writing contest and how I really wanted to enter it, but what was stopping me was the fact that I felt I didn't really know what to write about. (Writer's Block!! I do not like you lol)The topic was open, it had to be fiction and 250-750 words. Not too hard right?

That night before going to bed, an idea came into my head and I simply wrote down a story. This was the fastest story writing I've ever done. I feel like night is one of the best times for me to develop a story (I wrote about this in another post called Night).I'm not exactly sure why, maybe because I'm more of a  night owl. After writing a rough of the story, I began typing it the next day, and soon enough sent it into the contest.

Now here's the hard part, waiting. To be honest, I don't think my short story is very good, it kind of just came to me. But I guess I just wanted to write something and enter it. I know it's not the greatest thing I've ever written, but it's a good start!

A special letter from a special brother

Just yesterday I was looking and reading through old letters, particularly of my brother Matt's. He was and still is my pen pal, and we try to write regularly since he lives in Irvine and I live in Pleasanton. Reading through his letters (since I keep all of them), was very cool to read. It brought back a lot of memories from last year. We started writing to each other the summer of 2010, right before my senior year of high school and continued throughout that school year. 


Writing to Matt was/is so enjoyable, and I felt and still feel that I can truly express how I feel about things in life. And getting back a letter from him always makes my day a little bit brighter. He writes about what's going on with him back in So Cal, but I love how it's so detailed and personable. It makes it so easy to write back a long letter. His letters are written on scratch paper, and his envelopes are always the ones that say to put cash in, but he always writes on the back of it "no cash, just a letter to my sister."


These letters are very special to me and are fun to read as time goes by. And looking back to what was happening a year ago is strange yet interesting, since it's cool to see how much you've grown and changed.

Little writings, Little Women

Watching Little Women recently made me think of Jo and her love for writing. She would write at night, when here imagination would come alive. As the movie progresses, she goes to New York and there meets a Professor whom she befriends. He reads her writings, yet tells her that she can write better, if she has the courage to write it. It's strong criticism,  but he knows that she has much more inside of her.


Instead of writing more fiction novels, she begins to write a story, a true story about her and her sisters.Her little writings eventually becomes a book that gets published. So her book is based on the movie, and  is in real life what the author  Louisa May Alcott wrote, called Little Women. Watching this movie always gives me inspiration to write more even if I feel my writing isn't very good, or if I have writers block.
If you have not heard or seen this movie, I recommend it. It's one of those movies that you do not get tired of watching again and again. 

Writing from the past

Throughout the past week I started another story... yes, another one. This happens a lot, since I felt like my story wasn't going the way I wanted it to, so I started another one. 


 I've used things and events that have happened in my life to be brought out in my story. Like I've mentioned in a previous blog about writing what you know, I feel this is  a really helpful technique, and can be easier to describe since you have already experienced it, rather than it being made up.


I remembered that the writing contest that I wanted to enter ended yesterday. But I know that there are other contests throughout the year. I figure that I want to do my best for this contest, and throughout the month I really hadn't been working on a lot of writing, plus I find it hard to write a short story, that is short short, like only two to three pages long. But I figure with writing, you can't rush it, it should come naturally rather than forced.


What I've also considered about writing, is that you should always hold on to your writing. For the most part, I've kept all of my writing, practically ever since I was in 5th grade I started writing fiction stories... though most of them I never finished. But it's always good to see how much you've improved. 

Snail Mail

Letter writing has been one of my hobbies for a while. I know there are some people who either don't like writing letters or just don not really care about it, but I think those who don't write, love getting mail anyway. I mean who doesn't? It might be hard for them to write back, to find the time, or  they just  feel it's too much effort to give a response back, yet they love the thought of someone caring for them in the long run. Since it's the thought that counts. 


I don't blame those who love getting snail mail, just yesterday I got a letter from my friend, and it was so nice to come home to after a long day at work. It's also just as nice, but I think it's even better when someone you write to,  is thankful for your letter because it made their day. That happened to me recently also, my friend who is in Ireland now just received my letter a few days ago. Making some else's day makes you feel good, and though they might not respond back, knowing that you made their day that much better is enough in my book.


So if you're much of  a letter writer, or just love receiving snail mail, then 'tis the season to send out some holiday cards , Christmas/Advent cards to all your friends and perhaps acquaintentces. For nobody can turn down a sweet card that is beautifully written with the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus, or a jolly pink- cheeked Santa Claus, or a glowing white-blue snow man. By doing so, you could make two people happy, including yourself for being so giving during this Holiday season. 

Reading is Prewriting

By reading more, you are enhancing your writing. You learn how to write better from the books you read  because you take in the author's way of words. I've read books that grab my attention, and I feel like I can read it for a couple hours each day. The author's writing glues you to the page and you pick up their secret of how to do that to readers. It also could go the opposite way, where you read a book or something, and you can't take another look at it. It's so boring and dull that you would want to do anything else but read it. This is good too because you've learned how not to write like that.

After finishing a good book, I feel that I can get inspiration from their writing and just want to pick up and pen and paper and just start writing. The only problem with this though, is that it's likely that you are going to steal their charm and make it your own, instead of writing your own original work. Their use of words will become yours, their story line will become yours, and their characters will turn into yours. So something that can prevent you from doing this is to wait awhile till you write after you read a really good book. 
However you can use some of an author's techniques, since it can always help you get good ideas.
But to originally put some of your own unique ideas on the page is to read books on writing. I feel that these have really helped me, and sometimes it's not always enough to read it once... so you can soak in the words of advice and apply it to your writing. Some of these books on writing include, Escaping into the open by Elizabeth Berg, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Struck by Lightning by Natalie Goldberg, and many more. So if you want to become a better write, start reading!

The Real World

In life we usually don not focus on the here and now, but on the future; what may happen or what could happen. We also find our minds wandering back to the past. Though this is normal, and good for us to reflect on the past and plan for our future, it's not a good way to spend a lot of your time. Try instead to focus on the present and what is being presented to you now. In writing, it's very important to not worry if your writing is any good... it is important however to write what does come to mind without your intuition of checking for grammar, or adding a few metaphors to make your descriptions come alive. When you do this it allows your mind to be free and natural rather than scrambling for words, and taking longer to do so. Like reflecting on the future or present too much, it is a waste of time to do this while writing. To just let it go... let the past go, and hope for the future... hope for your writing to be good and to improve on your mistakes...  just like learning from your past mistakes.


I find it very useful to intertwine your real world with your writing world. This calls for the best writers, because they usually know how to describe something better, than compared to someone who had an original idea that never happened in real life. I find that my characters have similar traits to people that I know in my life, so it's easier for me to create dialogue for that character, and describe how they act based on someone I know. I've read in a book on writing that it's helpful to be aware of your surroundings, just in case you could use some of that material in your writing. Some may jot it down so they don't forget, or if you're like me, to store it in your long term memory. It's always useful to fall back on when in need of an idea, what better way than to use your own life for writing material. I've seen in "I Love Lucy" that Lucy plans to write a novel based on the people she knows, her husband and her two good friends. Also there have been other stories written that are based on someone's dream, which I find pretty interesting.
Another good tip that I try to follow with writing, is not to tell your detailed story to people. I keep my writing secret until someone actually reads it themselves. I feel that telling a detailed version of your story is not the best idea because I've experienced where  I've done so, and felt that my story wasn't very good based on others' reactions and analyzing it. As for me, when I tell people (my family) that I am writing a story, they say "another one!" The writing just keeps coming, and I encourage you to do the same.

a new experience

For some people it can be hard to stay committed to writing. At least for me it's challenging... to find the motivation and time for it isn't always easy. I'm the kind of person who can't write everyday, because I feel different everyday. Sometimes after a long day at school I'm tired and maybe even in a bad mood and I have no interest in writing or working on my story. Other days, I may have a lot of free time and feel inspired with what I experienced throughout the day, that I feel it is good enough to jot it down. So it varies, and it can ,make it harder to get anything down in a matter of days. However, I down ant to enter a writing contest which  found online because I feel it would be good experience, and the are offering good prizes. It calls for a short story, so 250-750 words, which is actually hard, considering that it's only 2 pages. I hope I can make the deadline and have perseverance to keep on writing, although it may not be very good. So whoever is interested in this sort of thing, there are plenty of creative writing contests out there that offer benefits of you do win.
Perseverance also works in the real world outside of writing. This includes school, work, sports and any other activity in your life. Applying this character trait to other things in your life will be helpful, and it will help any writers who have a hard time continuing with their writing.

just write

I feel that we put our minds to things we know or want to get done, instead of actually doing it. As for me when it comes to writing, I like to plan put my story a lot more than actually writing it. I plan out the main characters, their names, ages and personalities, as well as where the story takes place, and other important things like that. Although this is essential when writing a story, it takes the time away from words actually getting down on paper. I've has a lot of seasons where I would have writer's block... where one cannot either find the time to write or just cannot get any ideas down on paper. This is a frustrating time for any writer, but the only way to really overcome it is to just force yourself to sit down and put thoughts on a page. As Nancy Miller said (she's a TV writer, and wrote the show Saving Grace) "The hardest thing about writing is writing." I agree with her statement because it's very true, and it's something I need to work on. It's important to not be afraid if your work isn't any good, to just let it out, let the words flow right on the lined paper from your crowded head of ideas. No one has to read it if you don't want them to, and besides the less pressured thinking you put on your writing the better.
So, this gives me a new resolution to follow when it comes to writing. When in doubt just write.