Weaving Life Into Your Writing

I love rag rugs. They remind me my maternal grandparents' house where these rugs were scattered everywhere on the linoleum floor. In the wintertime, when there wasn't any farming to be done, my grandfather would take all the scraps of used cloth, set up his handmade loom in the basement, and set to weaving. Bits of flannel shirts, Grandma's stockings, and her worn out aprons were tightly woven into each rug. Every rag incorporated into the pattern had a history. You could almost read the story of my grandparents' lives in those rugs.

My grandparents were the original recyclers. They never wasted anything.

As a writer, I incorporate true experiences and emotions into my writing. All the little details and scraps of events lend reality to the story. My plots are fabrications but the way the characters react, their feelings, and mannerisms are often borrowed from life. In addition, I use settings I know well or have thoroughly researched.

There are a myriad of particulars I've used to add substance to my stories. For instance, in The Cowboy's Miracle one character suffers with dementia. I've been close to family and friends with the same sad disease. However, even an ordinary and mundane situation such as baking bread can be used in a story, which I did in Patriot's Heart. Then there's Grace and her little turtle friend in Daddy Wanted. Have you ever had a pet turtle? I did.

A good book must have a plot with a beginning, a middle, and an end. The story should be cohesive and most of all it should make sense. However, adding touches of truth can heighten the authenticity and draw readers into the narrative.

Gather all your life experiences together and use them in your stories. Tiny scraps of old memories and frayed emotions from long ago can give fiction a vital force that keeps readers turning the pages.