Grandma's New Hobby

I am a beginning writer and a grandmother. When I found Vocal Media online, I was interested in writing stories to submit to the website, but I was also hesitant. Would I have any stories that others would want to read? What would I write about? Can I write well enough that I will avoid embarrassing myself? These were some of the questions that entered my thoughts when I considered whether to begin this journey.

I do have a couple college degrees but nothing in writing or in English. In fact, the only writing classes I ever took in college were the required courses at the very beginning of my college career when I was fresh out of high school. And let’s face it, the first year of college is often a time when students are too excited about living away from home for the first time to really understand the magnitude of what they are experiencing, that is, the privilege of getting a chance to focus completely on studies. I did well in my first-year college courses, but I also spent a lot of time with new friends. Maybe too much time. Perhaps I could have learned more, I don’t know.

The idea of beginning to write during this time in my life, as I am in the beginning years of grandmotherhood (I just made that word up), was as daunting as it was interesting. I’ve always imagined that I might write a book someday, and time is moving along. But do I have what it takes to do that? Submitting stories for publishing on Vocal would require exposing my written stories and poems to strangers on the internet and if you’ve ever read the comments sections on social media you will know that the internet can be an unforgiving space. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

Soon, though, I overcame my trepidations, and I jumped in and submitted my first story to Vocal. To my surprise it was published! I have now successfully submitted several stories: poems, fiction, and true stories. I’ve also submitted stories to a couple of Vocal’s Challenges. Challenges are Vocal’s storytelling contests that provide the chance to win cash prizes ranging from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand dollars. Although I have not won any of the Challenges I’ve entered, I still enjoy the… challenge… of attempting to win.

There are things I’ve learned during this journey about writing as a little-bit-older adult. My top five reasons that a grandparent might decide to write for Vocal Media are listed below. Maybe this list will help to encourage you, dear reader, to join Vocal Media, too.

1. Life is long

You’ve been living your life for decades and that comes with a number of experiences and observations that can be turned into stories for Vocal Media. You don’t need to have climbed Mount Everest or discovered a cure for a terrible disease to have something interesting and important to say. Even the most ordinary life will have memories of love, laughter, struggle, and sadness. There are numerous stories that you can tell about your own experiences.

A long life also brings with it so many changes. We can separate and section our lives into periods of time: childhood, teenage years, adulthood before and after marriage and/or divorce, before and after children, and the empty nest period. There are also years of not working and years of working. Maybe you switched careers. Maybe you went back to college for a new degree or just finished your GED or started college as an older adult. Sometimes the death of a parent, spouse, child, or other significant person marks the end of one period of life and the beginning of another period. Whatever your life story contains, each new phase of life holds interesting stories that can be used as topics for written works that you can submit to Vocal. Believe it, or not, there will be folks who enjoy reading what you have written.

2. You’ve learned from mistakes and dealt with problems

We have all made mistakes and recovered from them. The older we get, the more mistakes we have time to make! How we recover from those mistakes can make for great content to use in stories.

Besides the things WE do that can “throw a wrench” into our daily lives, making situations more difficult, there are also things that happen TO us. Many folks have endured some type of traumatic event. Whether it was a car accident or an abusive situation, we have all experienced something that caused a big problem in our life at some point in time. How we deal with that traumatic event can become a relatable story, or an inspirational story, or it can provide insight into the reader’s own situation. IF you are ready to share stories about how your mistakes or your traumatic events shaped your life, then you can use these memories to create written works that others will want to read. (Just be sure you are truly ready to share these stories with strangers)

Stories of how we have dealt with mistakes and traumas in our lives can provide great topics to write about, whether we are writing fiction, poetry, or a memoir. We’ve all lived a life full of ups and downs and sideways. To tell these stories means that others who are going through similar experiences may feel less alone. Everyone learns in different ways, and different stories will be inspirational to different people. Your unique story, and your unique understanding of your stories, may be the key that provides words of wisdom to another person.

Or your stories could just give someone a good laugh. Or a good cry. Or make them angry. Whatever it is, if your story provokes emotion, provides some type of inspiration, or imparts a bit of wisdom then others will be willing to read it.

3. You’ve witnessed and learned from others’ life experiences

Anyone who has lived long enough to become a grandparent has also lived long enough to meet a lot of people. Relatives, friends, acquaintances, and strangers – all these folks whose lives have intersected with ours can provide material for stories.

Each person we’ve met can provide us with a new, unique view of the human experience that can be used as material for a story. Someone we know may be a good example of a story character who is funny, or sad, or quirky. Maybe someone in your past had a habit of borrowing things and never returning them, later claiming that the item was theirs all along (I knew someone like this. LOL). Or perhaps your relative’s identity was stolen, and you helped them figure out the process involved after this happens. Maybe someone you encountered WAS the person who stole someone’s identity and went to prison for it. These memories can become material for fiction, poetry, or memoirs. Recalling the mannerisms, habits, and speech patterns of others will help a great deal when writing dialogue or creating characters for a fictional piece.

4. Life is short

I know I said “life is long” in the first entry, but life is also short. I’m in my 50’s but many days I wonder how I’m suddenly this age. How did time pass so quickly? I now have three grandsons who are growing quickly. My children are older than I was when I was pregnant with them. Where has the time gone?

I am realizing that my daughters know the current “me” much more than they knew the younger, more carefree “me”. The “me” from my twenties who did stuff and had ideas and dreams and desires was a little different than the current “me”. I liked that version of me. But that version of me has been reshaped after years of living that have, quite honestly, often swung me around and bashed me against the boulders of life, boulders that are made up of trauma and stress and disappointments. I’m not as free or as idealistic now as I was when I was in my twenties.

In some ways, that’s a good thing. But at times it becomes limiting. I want my daughters and grandsons to remember ALL the good parts of me. The cool parts. The smart parts. The strong parts. And this is where writing might be able to help seal those memories by providing them with a fuller view of me and my life experiences. A view of my life from MY perspective.

What stories do you want your children to remember about you? What experiences influence your thinking as a grandparent? Which of your life events could use some clarification from you, the person who experienced them, so that your adult children and growing grandchildren will know YOUR truth and not some version that someone else tells? Writing stories down can help ensure that your descendants will have a record of your experiences from your point of view.

5. Writing is good for your brain

Last, but certainly not least, writing stories that you know others will read can help your brain. Forcing yourself to write down your ideas in a way that will make sense to your reader forces your brain to remember communication skills that may have been fading. Putting words together in sentences that are clear and concise so others will understand is a learned skill. And all learned skills will deteriorate if not practiced.

We all spend our lives communicating with others, but as we age, sometimes we end up communicating with a smaller variety of people. We may not be working any longer or may be working part-time. Our families are all busy with their lives, so we don’t interact with them as much. We may be living alone for a number of years, or perhaps with only one other person. Many married couples know each other so well that verbal communication can often be replaced with non-verbal communication, or even with grunts and sounds. Speaking full sentences can become more and more rare when we’ve been living many years with a significant other. Taking the time to write down our thoughts in sentences and paragraphs for strangers to read and comprehend is one way to refresh and maintain good communication skills.

_____________________

I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my list of reasons a grandparent might choose to write for Vocal Media. If you have been considering taking up writing as a hobby or sharing stories you have collected over the years, Vocal Media is a great place to begin sharing your stories with strangers! They've all been very kind so far!!

_______________________