Pink Think: “I always like to reveal the fact that the emperor has no clothes. And children are best at that. They teach us how to see the world in that sense. They are without artifice; they see it for what it is. I am drawn to that ruthless honesty.” – Mira Nair
Photo by ilco on stock.xchng
Living with a teenager is like rain drizzling through a ray of sunshine. A combination of moods which shouldn’t coexist, but which do and can be both perplexing and beautiful.
Last week, I blogged about my oldest’s response to a short story I had written. About the same time, I had shown her the start to a historical fantasy I was writing. She politely suggested a ton of changes. I thanked her and wondered if I should keep writing the story.
A few days later, I pulled myself together and rewrote the story based on her suggestions. I changed the setting, put in more exposition and revved up the fantasy part earlier. When I showed it to her once again, she said she liked it. She daydreams about stories like “Treasure Island” and she was already starting to daydream about this one. And wasn’t that a good thing?
Then she said, “Tell me what happens in the story.”
“Don’t you want to be surprised?” I asked.
“Well, yeah… so write it then.”
This isn’t the first time I’ve thought how wonderful it would be if a story would come to me just in one whole, and get it down on paper right away. But as I am learning in art class, writing a novel requires patience as I put down layer upon layer upon layer, blending colors in between.
“Good job being teachable,” my husband said when I told him what happened.
I am just grateful for an honest teenager.
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