I Have No Title, Just Love For These Dear People

I read a great book last year. It's If You Can Talk You Can Write, by Joel Saltzman, and basically he uses 190 pages and a lot of humor to expound on his title. I loved it. When you have a writing block, just imagine talking to someone and the words will come. I'm sure anyone that's ever read this blog has realized that his theory is the entire basis of my writing style. No metaphors, double meanings, or words I need to look up to spell here. I'm obviously more of a talker than a writer, and this blog is just me talking on the Internet.

I get my gift of gab from my dad. He can talk to anyone, anywhere, and within 10 minutes he'll find a way he's distant cousins with a native of Mumbai, India or the new couple from Australia. He's a great storyteller. I remember nights around the dinner table, laughing until we cried as he told stories about his childhood, his years in the Air Force, or a joke he'd heard at work that day. He also loves genealogy. So not only does he have his own stories, but he's spent years gathering stories about the families and area where our family has lived since the late 1700's.

Despite his wealth of stories my dad is not a writer.

But his dear wife is.

She's taken it upon herself to collect his stories. A few nights a week after dinner as they sit in their chairs petting their well-fed lap warmers kitties, Dad talks and Cindy types. She's not allowed to edit as she types, yet sometimes when she reads the story back to my dad he insists he did not say it that way.

And so it's true, if you can talk, you can write.

However, it does help to have a dear wife that loves you so much she wants to preserve the stories that make her laugh.