Emotions of the Writer: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly by Suzanne Jenkins
The most
difficult issue I have as a writer is insuring that words going down on paper
are telling a story and not just occupying space. Often, on idea will come to
me as I’m writing and not a second before. I might have a general idea of the story,
but the details come later. After writing, I might ruminate on what’s been
written and go back later to delete it all. I’m in the process of doing just
that with my current story, Alice’s Summertime Adventure. It sounds so bucolic. Alice lives in south
Jersey, not far from the Delaware Bay.
She is going to spend the day sunbathing in her yard. I could smell the
mossy smell of peat and scrub pine, and even the motor oil of a trawler leaving
for a fishing trip. And then reality set in and I remembered that readers want
something more than the visceral memory I have of the Jersey shore. That is
where the real story telling comes in; the journey of Alice and her children.
It will not be a light hearted read.
The Greeks of
Beaubien Street has
its origins in my love for Greektown. It is the birthplace of my family’s
traditions. We didn’t go to church like
some Greek families; to the big Orthodox Church in Detroit. We also didn’t speak Greek, nor have many
relatives around who spoke it, or go to Greek School. After my grandmother died, our relatives
migrated to California, leaving my family alone in the Detroit suburbs. We no
longer had the benefit of other Greeks around us. Our family still loved to eat however, and
that meant trips to Greektown to shop, to the Eastern Market on Gratiot for
fresh meat and cheeses, and to a little Greek grocery store on Joy Road. I
distinctly remember refusing a night out with girlfriends as a teenager because
my father was putting on a spread for my mother’s large, English extended
family. They came in droves to eat. So our “Greek” life centered on food. It
was what made us Greek. I wanted to capture that in my story, but realized that
few people want to read my about childhood memories. I would have to come up with a story that was
intriguing enough to spend precious time reading. I think I succeeded.
I fantasized
about what Greektown meant to me and what it might have been like to live
there. I imagined a community of people who lived in the apartments above their
businesses. At first, I thought it might be a safe, warm loving place to raise
children. By the time my characters are living in Greektown though, it is no
longer inhabited by Greeks. They are isolated from other Greeks, just like I
was growing up.
Over the
course of the book she makes several heartbreaking discoveries about her
family. They are in contrast to the horrors hidden by the rose gardens
surrounding the house of murder victim Gretchen Parker. The white, cottage-like Cape Cod in the quiet
Detroit suburbs was the antithesis of Jill Zannos’ home. The Parker’s house looks so inviting, but
don’t be deceived.
I definitely
don’t write warm and fuzzy. Where does the darker stuff come from? Today,
another long conversation with my aunt revealed that she believes everything I
have experienced in my life is leading up to these stories. It gives some
meaning to some of those I regret. There are events in The Greeks of Beaubien Street
that shocked me as I was writing, as though I
were reporting the crimes committed. I deliberated whether or not to leave
the more shocking material in the book when I came to the conclusion that the
perverse stuff is purposeful. It forces the reader to make a judgment about the
perpetrator, and hopefully, make a comparison with the simple, Greek
father.
Yesterday, as
I was writing Alice’s story, I started sobbing as a part popped into my head
that was almost too much for me to contemplate. Where the idea came from is an
unknown, but it is devastating. My
husband came in to my office to make sure I was okay when he heard me crying.
He asked me why I insisted on writing about topics that cause pain. The truth
is that I am intrigued with the deepest of human emotion. Death, betrayal,
humiliation; they are all experiences that I am eager to
delve into. I want the reader to feel the emotion of the sufferer. All of
it. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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Visit her website at www.suzannejenkins.net.
Visit her blog at www.2sheepinthecity.com.
Thanks for being our guest today, Suzanne! Sometimes you have to pull out everything you have even though it hurts. To be able to do this successfully marks the true quality of a professional writer. ;o)
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