I’ve always believed the best stories begin with a kernel of truth. They stem, in some way, from real life. This weekend, I visited my father’ grave and started thinking about the best “true” stories I know. Many stem from his life and death. Others are about times he lived through and shared with my sister and me.
I just completed a manuscript about a woman with a gambling addiction. I got the idea after reading about the downfall of a person I knew when I was in high school. The plot of the book –– at least the very first kernel –– stems from that. Of course, it evolves into much more, but the kernel, that initial idea, stemmed from me asking, "Whatever became of the best high school athlete I ever saw?" The answer stunned me. The tale resonated with me.
And so I wrote. I won’t say I wrote it because my novel isn't that story. I change it, as I should. But the kernel is there.
Here’s a newspaper story I’ve shared with student-writers over the years.
Prosecutors consider fate of 8-year-old
Published: Sunday, February 06, 2000, Lubbock Avalanche Journal http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020600/nat_020600046.shtml#.WUOlMxPyv-Y
COKER CREEK, Tenn. {AP} Neighbors said that for months the ramshackle mobile home littered with piles of trash and beer cans had been the site of loud parties and drunken fights, most in front of two young boys who lived there with their mother and her boyfriend.
When it was quiet, they said, the children often were left alone with no food, running water or electricity.
Then, last week, the mother's boyfriend was stabbed to death, and the 8-year-old boy confessed to killing him, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department said. According to police reports, the boy said Keith Podzebka, 41, had been hitting his mother.
District Attorney General Jerry Estes said authorities are reviewing the case to decide if the boy will be tried as a juvenile or an adult.
"These issues are rare. I don't recall having an 8-year-old involved in a murder," Estes said Saturday. "This is a first for us."
Where the child is prosecuted depends on the motive and whether he has committed other violent acts, Estes said.
The second-grader described by neighbors as a sweet, intelligent child is accused of stabbing Podzebka in the chest Jan. 30 in this isolated rural community, tucked away in the Cherokee National Forest near the North Carolina border.
According to police reports, the boys' mother said another man stabbed Podzebka, but then her 8-year-old son confessed.
"He was smart with a lot of potential despite what was going on in that home," said Ann Irons, the parent of child who attends the same school as the boy. "He was attention-seeking but not violent. He was a good boy. If he did it, he was pushed."
The boy's mother was charged with child neglect and pleaded guilty Tuesday in Monroe County Sessions Court. She was given a suspended six-month sentence.
The story offers so many rich questions –– legal and ethical. If you think about it for a while, something will emerge that you can write about. Many students have gotten wonderful short stories from this one.
I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on kernels of truth and how they impact your creative process.
Prosecutors consider fate of 8-year-old
Published: Sunday, February 06, 2000, Lubbock Avalanche Journal http://lubbockonline.com/stories/020600/nat_020600046.shtml#.WUOlMxPyv-Y
COKER CREEK, Tenn. {AP} Neighbors said that for months the ramshackle mobile home littered with piles of trash and beer cans had been the site of loud parties and drunken fights, most in front of two young boys who lived there with their mother and her boyfriend.
When it was quiet, they said, the children often were left alone with no food, running water or electricity.
Then, last week, the mother's boyfriend was stabbed to death, and the 8-year-old boy confessed to killing him, the Monroe County Sheriff's Department said. According to police reports, the boy said Keith Podzebka, 41, had been hitting his mother.
District Attorney General Jerry Estes said authorities are reviewing the case to decide if the boy will be tried as a juvenile or an adult.
"These issues are rare. I don't recall having an 8-year-old involved in a murder," Estes said Saturday. "This is a first for us."
Where the child is prosecuted depends on the motive and whether he has committed other violent acts, Estes said.
The second-grader described by neighbors as a sweet, intelligent child is accused of stabbing Podzebka in the chest Jan. 30 in this isolated rural community, tucked away in the Cherokee National Forest near the North Carolina border.
According to police reports, the boys' mother said another man stabbed Podzebka, but then her 8-year-old son confessed.
"He was smart with a lot of potential despite what was going on in that home," said Ann Irons, the parent of child who attends the same school as the boy. "He was attention-seeking but not violent. He was a good boy. If he did it, he was pushed."
The boy's mother was charged with child neglect and pleaded guilty Tuesday in Monroe County Sessions Court. She was given a suspended six-month sentence.
The story offers so many rich questions –– legal and ethical. If you think about it for a while, something will emerge that you can write about. Many students have gotten wonderful short stories from this one.
I’d love to hear others’ thoughts on kernels of truth and how they impact your creative process.
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