Everyday Canvas

Writing...With or Without Scars

Prompt: Jeff Vandermeer, in his Wonderbook, talks about a “scar” or a “ghost of a scar” or a “splinter”, which exists in a writer’s background that inspires or causes him to begin to write. In his case, it was his parents’ divorce when he was a child. What other kinds of “ghosts of scars” can inspire the urge to write? Do you know of any real-life examples of it?

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Some of us can't know where the love to write came from. In my case, it was probably with me ever since I discovered books, which was at a really early age because I was read to and told stories quite a bit ever since a baby, ever since I can remember. In addition, when scars happened, they added to it.

When I look back, even my beginnings when I was the only spoiled child to four women in the house could have been a scarring experience because I must have felt inundated and clobbered with everyone’s attention, and because of that, I probably mistook what the world was about. Then, when my parents broke up later, it became the greatest shock of my life. Other stuff followed, too.

Yet, I can’t blame my love of writing on the misfortunes of my life because my love of making up stuff was there all along. To begin with, I loved the letters and words and lines and books so much so that I practically taught myself (or so they say) when I was three by asking my grandmother the names of the week and the letters in each day, which were on the calendar on her wall. I could read by myself before I turned four. My mom used to say that once I began devouring books no one could tell there was a child in the house. I think in there somewhere the love of writing first took root.

Still, I can see how the love of writing can come about through a different way for others. To begin with, misfortunes give us material to write about. It may be therapy. It may have something to do with showmanship. It may be a way of seeking others who have had the same misfortunes.

The good thing is, no matter how successful or unsuccessful we may be, we’ve all found out that writing rocks.