ed-reinagel-writer

September 14, 2009

Poetry:

Choices

As we travel life’s road, by hour by day,

Each of us makes choices along the way,

Freedoms we lose as our bonds we take,

Increasingly tethered by choices we make,

Some choices are sweet - some are tart,

Bonds of the flesh, and bonds of the heart,

Joy we are paid for the freedom we give,

Life would be lonely if in total freedom we live,

Know you the hour - know you the day -

You choose to give your freedoms away,

The bonds are our loves, our wants, and our deeds,

And the way we chose to fulfill our needs,

Choose very carefully - to what you’ll be indebted,

You could live long enough to regret it.

Bind yourself to things that are noble,

The ripple effect will make your choice global.

The choices we make are the chains that bind us,

The light we look to can guide us or blind us.

So choose very carefully what you embrace,

For you will be living in that chosen space.

© By Ed Reinagel

History:

Write the way you speak. If you have letters from grandma use them as she wrote them. Do not correct grammar or edit her writing. Your readers should be able to see her writing and reminisce, “That’s the way she talked. That’s my grandma.”

Decide who your audience will be for your book. Do you plan to publish your work or is it for family and friends? In what voice will you present your story? “I” is the first person and more intimate. The third person creates some distance. It’s probably best if you write for yourself. Most likely when you are pleased with the results of your work, others will be pleased also.

The fear of not being good enough can kill your project before you start. Ask yourself, if I don’t put my history down, who will? If I don’t get the courage to write, how much family history will be lost to my children and grandchildren? Silence the fear of critique and just start. The fact you are even thinking about sharing your history is a pat on the back moment. Now pat yourself on the back. No one who reads your finished work will expect you to be a world famous author. You need to give yourself systematic goals such as several stories a week at the very least. If not writing, talk to family and get historical input, or do research into areas of your history you don’t remember. A self-set deadline will urge you forward.

God bless, Ed