The Challenge of Writing About Anything

My favorite radio station is WHYY in Philadelphia, our local public radio station. I am very curious,
and the full roster of local and national programming on WHYY is a natural way of feeding my curiosity. A few weeks back, my curiosity lead to a swift kick in the pants which came while listening to an interview on Fresh Air. I do not remember the name of the person being interviewed. What I do remember is being challenged by his claim that a writer can make a story out of almost anything.

I do enjoy writing, easily getting lost in a river of  words while sitting at the keyboard. As often as possible I sneak off with pen and paper (yes I sometimes write the old fashioned way) just to see what thoughts and dreams come out on the page. True, I often find myself doodling, but the challenge of telling a story is one I am always ready to tackle.

So why don’t I write as often as I’d like? My list of excuses is long. And yes I have to admit they are excuses, not real obstacles. One such excuse is not having anything interesting to write about. This is a throwback to my time as a codependent. Having lost myself in the destructive cycle that comes with living with an alcoholic, I never thought myself good enough to come up with my own stories. Being told I would never make any real money as a writer did not help either, as I took it to mean I was not good enough. Because of codependency, I tend to hide, allowing my dreams to wither on the vine. Writing is all about being on display, something way out of my comfort zone.

I once caught myself telling a story someone else told me about something from their past. Don’t worry, I did not take credit for the story nor did I impose myself upon the plot. I did tell the story with passion which must have seemed odd to the listener, especially considering I was talking about someone they did not know. I figured the story was more interesting than anything I could come up with on my own. And while I enjoyed telling the story, I felt very empty especially when the listener made an off hand comment about a plot detail. It’s hard to come up with answers when your trying to explain something from someone else’s story.

A writer can make his own story out of anything. This is my new challenge. I do enjoy telling a good story. Now I feel challenged to come up with my own material. With anything and everything in front of me in the world, there should be plenty of topics to write about. Having nothing to write about is no longer an excuse, having been scratched off my list. It was a silly excuse, as most of them all of them are. Right now, as I look at a spring rain outside my window, I find myself wondering if I see my next bunch of new stories. In fact I do.