storytelling

It's a tricky thing convincing two boys you are a blue alien. Five- and six-year-olds ask a lot of questions.

Hiking through Palo Duro Canyon, I discovered blue marks on my hands and arms. Of course, I told the boys, "Look! My fake human skin is coming off. You can see my blue alien skin."

"You're not an alien," they insisted. After all, they've known me for most of their lives.

"How do you know?"

I love a good movie. I love the story. I love the artistic interplay of the writing, directing, acting, sets, costumes, music. I love reclining in that chair in the movie theater and watching it all unfold in two hours.

We sat around a table on the patio long after dark, sangrias in hand. The sound of the ocean lapping the rocky beach provided background music.

"Once upon a time, there lived a girl," someone started, perhaps Miguel. Miguel had a habit of starting things.

"Her name was Lola. She was a showgirl." That was Ben, without a doubt.

One by one, we passed along the story, each adding something, maybe a sentence, maybe several paragraphs, until the happily-ever-after.

On The Writer's View 2 (a yahoo group for writers where we discuss craft, market, and career), Cecil Murphey asked:

"'I want to be an excellent writer,' he said.
'What qualities make a writer excellent? How do I develop as a writer?'

“Popular culture believes that the function of the artist is to entertain. Artists are told that to be political or the challenge authority is an abuse of their gift. How fortunate for our common humanity that so many through history have refused to acquiesce! I believe that art is a prime facilitator of truth, and those who have come to embrace this have always enhanced our humanity.”