Down the Rabbit Hole

The Barn & Writing a Legacy

"Blog City ~ Every Blogger's Paradise"
DAY 1852 January 11, 2019
John Gardner's The Art of Fiction has an interesting third person limited POV exercise. Let's give it a try-
"Try describing a barn from the point of view of a man who just learned that his son has died. Don't tell us anything about the son or even that his son has dies...just describe the barn as he sees it."

Walt dragged the camera from his bag, shifting his feet to compensate for the sudden weight of it in his hands. The wide lens was heavier than he would have expected but then, he was operating on a reserve of strength that was already running low. He lowered his center of gravity a bit more and focused the lens on the barn.

It had been newly painted, a bright brick red that looks still wet in places where the rising sun ray's bounced of its surface. The white trim around the windows also looked new. It made the panes look like dark, open wounds. The barn stood firmly, the only structure in the middle of a field that swam with too tall grass and pockets of wildflowers. There was a old tractor parked beside it, given half way to rust and rot. Outside the wide doors someone had left a wood wagon, slowly being reclaimed by creeping overgrowth. The barn looked like it was a new construction, youthful somehow in a sea of old. The barn looked strong, like it could withstand the unforgiving winter storms and the blazing summer heat. It looked like it could withstand even the advancing rot and decay. The red began to swim before his eyes, the colors running away with his sudden tears. Walt lowered the camera, sank to his knees in the dirt. He knew no matter how strong and bright and untouchable that barn looked...it would take one perfect, impossible storm to level it to dust. He knew this and it left him feeling empty and dark, like those dark windows.



"Blogging Circle of Friends "
DAY 2245 January 11, 2019
“Language allows us to reach out to people, to touch them with our innermost fears, hopes, disappointments, victories. To reach out to people we'll never meet.It's the greatest legacy we could ever leave our loved ones: The history of how we felt.” Simon Van Booy
Do you agree with Simon? Is this why you write?

I definitely agree with Van Booy on this. I believe it is a great part of why I love to write. I think I am building a legacy for my daughter, for her family one day. I think of all the diaries, journals and letters left behind by those who have passed. They are a record, a testimony for those still here. I also think I write for myself. I write for the insight it gives me to go back and read over something I've written. It tells me about where I was at a particular time in my life. It lets me relive the joys, or the pain that is captured in a piece or a blog. Reflection is an important part of growing and moving forward in life. Writing always allows me to look back on important, defining moments.