I’m posting this late on Tuesday because Gary and I have been in Cherokee, NC with our two youngest grands, Cole and Mallory. You may have read my July 19 Parting Words From The WORD, where I mentioned my time at the Cherokee Indian Museum, learning about my own Cherokee heritage. After that visit, I knew I wanted to go back, take our grandchildren, and find out more together. And we did.
But on my way home today, I realized I did more than simply learn dates and historical events. I began to write about it, at least in my mind.
Isn’t that the way we writers are? We go on a simple vacation or go shopping or read a current event and before we know it, we’re contemplating characters, mapping out plots, scouting locations, capturing events, and creating a world inside our heads.
In As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players….” Today I realize how true that statement is.
- My first mystery for kids was set on Tybee Island (GA) because we went there when I was a kid.
- The second in the Bitsy Burroughs Mystery Series was set on Amelia Island (FL) because my grandchildren lived there.
- And the last in the series, Bitsy and the Mystery at Hilton Head Island (SC), was on Hilton Head because it had become a family vacation favorite for our us, our adult children, and our grandchildren.
Little did I know those events in life would prepare a stage for my characters–real or imagined–to enter and exit. After all, I didn’t set out to find locations for children’s books. I simply found myself there…and the characters and their stories began.
Now I’m already looking forward to doing something with these nuggets of Cherokee ideas, even if it’s not right now. After all, I went to Tybee Island in 1961, but it was well over 30 years later that I began to write about it.
I have a feeling I’m not alone in this phenomenon. What about you? Have you experienced anything similar? If so, would you share it with us here at The Christian Writers Den? It could be fun to see where our stories–whether published or not, whether written or not–originated.
I’d love to hear from you!
Happy writing…
Vonda
