One Chapter More

My wonderful husband bought a book for me about writing fiction called “The Lie that Tells a Truth” by John Dufresne. So I am finally in the last chapter. In his chapter about writing dialogue he addresses the motives behind why we communicate. Do any of these apply to why you post or read blogs?

Now, we all know there is no comfort in small talk, no solace in chitchat, no substance to idle jabber about the weather or mutual acquaintances. So why do we do it? We talk with each other for various reasons: to inform, to compare, to seduce, to clarify, to cloud, to charm, to deceive, to alarm, to evade, to demur, to bedevil, to reassure, to offend, to warn, to befuddle, to flatter, to belittle, to thank, to bluster, to rattle, to arouse, to soothe, to illuminate, to apologize, to inquire, to amuse, to brag, to inspire, to order, to explain, to encourage, to dissuade, to convert, to argue, to process, to instruct, to vent, to accost, to excuse, to call attention to ourselves, to hear the sound of our own voices, to be polite, to pass the time. But when we talk to understand, to understand ourselves and what we’re doing or what we think we’re doing and why we’re doing it, then we tell each other stories. Stories are how we remind ourselves who we are and how we’re connected. Stories are sacred and communal like a burial and the gathering after it.

While we are on the topic of chapters… Thanks to two marvelous women from the church I had four completely uninterrupted hours of time at my home to myself today. I cannot remember the last time that this happened. So I decided to get some heavy work done on the book I am writing. Can you believe I wrote four chapters and have just one left to write? Then the final tweaking and it is done. I am so excited.