It is my pleasure to welcome yet another guest, Jim Stone, a 31-minute challenge participant with some thoughts to offer on reasons for writing and the effect the opening of the writing valve has had on him during this month.

Holding a mirror up to another mirror and tilting it just right will surprise you with an optical infinite regress (unlimited reflections) that seem to go on forever.  My experience with this 31-minute writing exercise has been much the same.  As I ponder over the blank page and begin to write, the very action stimulates my memory bank and I begin to dredge up images and events and voices from my past.  That writing begets other images and events and voices and so on and so on.  With me, it hasn’t been just a snowball effect with characters and words, it’s been an avalanche.

But my dilemma is I’ve always thought that writing for public consumption is quite egotistical and selfish. Unless one uses a “nom de plume,” one is putting his or her soul on display and has to be in love with their words so much that they need to share them with the world.  Thus my first reaction when presented with the 31-minute challenge was, “Why would anyone want to read what I write?” With ample prodding from my spouse, I made the leap and as writing resurrected my past life, it dawned on me that it felt therapeutic. It was fascinating how the pleasure and grief and trivial detail rose to the surface with little conscious effort.  It became obvious that what made me what I am could be interesting and useful to my daughter and grandson.  They are all the audience I need to justify my writing.

For now, I’ll do narratives about my life experiences (trying to be honest and not embellish them too much) and when I hopefully fall in love with my words, I can branch out into short story writing with a broader readership in mind.

Good luck, Jim, and thank you for participating, and for sharing. This was the last guest post for the month — and for participating in the challenge. We’re almost there! Happy writing, Jim, and all! –Katia

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