Creative Meanderings

Describe your writing style in three words.

Although I could say ‘creative, nonfiction, stories’ or something like that, I also think that most of my published writing has elements of comedy – because life is.

So, these are the three words that describe my writing style as I try to show the realities of life, which is funny! 😀

Nothing more to say about that!

~T 😀

Favorite quote from a female writer:

We are each responsible for all of our experiences.

Louise Hay

I’m not actually a quote kind of person. I used to look in awe at professors at university and graduate school who could just quote a Shakespearean line or two or three off the top of their heads.

In school, we used to have to memorize a poem or something that ‘inspired’ us. Yet, I always struggled.

It’s not that I am forgetful because I can remember birthdays or numbers or other things that I deem worthy of remembering just fine. However, I’m not a name-dropper and I don’t quote.

One reason is that I am not a sycophant in any way. In fact, I’m probably too cynical for my own good that I do just about anything I can to avoid being a cliche or a juice-drinker of trends whether in words, thoughts, products, etc.

I like to think that it’s what makes me unique, but lately this is something I’m contemplating and perhaps a more in-depth post is to come from it.

For now, this is the quote that suits me well. It encompasses taking responsibility for your own actions and consequences – whether positive or negative – in those actions.

~T 😀

Who are your writing bffs? Tag them.

For me, writing is a solo activity.

Over the years I wrote on writing boards for feedback and sharing or joined meet up groups for writing circles. However, nothing really ever clicked for me.

As a nomad in life, I struggle to find friends to hang out with let alone those with whom I’d want to share my writing.

While I appreciate getting feedback and tips to improve my stories, I’m better at doing this process with those whom I don’t know at all.

So, my writing BFFs are my journal, computer, pen and the unknown readers who may or may not send me comments and feedback. 😜

~T 😀

If you could be writing anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Initially, I thought that it wasn’t about a place in the world as long as it was a café like I wrote in Day 3 and Day 4 of this #whyshewriteschallenge .

However, after a bit more contemplation and digging deeper into my mind, I recalled my lifelong dream of sitting in a Paris café on a sunny day with a cup of coffee and writing as people passed by.

Perhaps it is writers like Hemingway (as the picture above represents) that romanticized the idea of this kind of scene for writing. Now, it might even be a bit cliché, but still it is dreamy to imagine myself at one of these tables with my notebook and pen absorbing the atmosphere and letting the real and imagined weave their way into a creative nonfiction piece that includes elements of the bustling people around me.

Despite my lackluster feeling for Paris, I still dream of doing this one day. Admittedly, I visited Paris in the cold grey November time and though I did go to a cafe, it was not at all as I had envisioned. Therefore, I shall have to try again when the sun promises to shine and the people are enjoying an outdoor café way of life.

Je veux écrire dans un café dans les rues de Paris! 🇫🇷

~T 😀

What is the first/worst job you ever had?

My first ‘real-world’ job was also my worst job. 🤣

Growing up, my parents and I always had an agreement that I did not need an outside job as long as I kept up my grades and worked on the family blueberry farm during the summers. I got an allowance and the arrangement suited us all. 🤑

However, the summer before I headed off to university, for some reason I decided to try something different. 🤷🏽‍♀️

Since ‘N’ was my favorite place to shop, I thought it might be fun to work there as well. So, I applied for a position knowing that they often needed extra help during the anniversary sales.

After successfully gaining employment and undergoing high-quality training as they liked to remind us regularly throughout, 💪🏽 I was placed in one of the two coveted departments – lingerie – as a sales associate.

This department along with shoes were supposed to be the best to work in since commission was always high for any sales made due to the product prices. However, what training did not cover was how to deal with the cutthroat nature of the senior sales associates.

Additionally, no amount of training can change the spots of an introverted leopard.

Therefore, I lasted less than two months, 🙅🏽‍♀️ claiming I needed to prepare for going to university. I didn’t make it to the anniversary sales period and it never occurred to me to transfer to another department or to continue at another branch closer to my university once I moved.

Instead, I wisely deemed it my first, last and only sales position to ever enter my work history and have continued to be thankful that my career took me down a different path.

I am in awe of people who can do that kind of work regularly and enjoy it. It’s just another example of how we all have our different strengths and weaknesses. We just need to learn how to harness what we are best at and go forward in that direction. 😇🥰

~T 😀