Pebbles in a Shell

When I decided to enter the “Writing Contest: You are Enough” hosted by Positive Writer, I looked first at the essays about writing that I had created over the years. But I wanted something different. 

The glorious thing about being a creative writer is I can be as diverse as I want; go in any direction I like; and follow my dreams no matter where they lead. People read my writing and they may like it or they may not, but they can’t tell me that I’m wrong. Because I own it and that is enough. With that in mind, I offer you the following poem and observations.

Each wave comes, gently washing pebbles into a shell.

A heartbeat, and the water recedes,

 taking some pebbles but leaving others in their place.

These are the bits and pieces of our lives.

Some so fleeting as to be nothing more than grains of sand.

Yet each has been a part of us.

Each made a momentary stop to fill our hearts and souls with wonder.

The waves, like our lives, are ever changing, yet the shell holds steady.

Still gently cradling the pebbles within.

The times – the people – the events.

            Heartache and sadness; happiness and joy.

Excitement, achievement; setbacks and failings.

            Love, acceptance, trust and forgiveness --

     Ever open, the shell gathers pebbles that drift by,

whether they remain for a heartbeat or a lifetime.

And always there is room for more.

How does the above relate to writing?

Your creative efforts can be as small as a grain of sand, such as journaling or jotting down simple affirmations. You don’t have to start your writing career with a 400-page tome or an Oscar winning screen play. Maybe even a full length novel is more than you can handle right now. Don’t panic. If you put enough grains of sand together with a little heat and effort, you can make glass.

For example, the above started with the picture, taken at Provincetown, RI one summer. The picture led to writing the poem. The poem led to a full length novel called “Pebbles in a Shell”.

I have written several short stories for various anthologies which are now out of print so my rights were returned. Reviewing them one day, I decided to see if I could create full length fiction from some of them. One story became the basis of “A Game of Love” and another was the basis for “An Interlude”, just published this March. The others are being combined into a short story collection to be published in December. So what started out as small things became much larger things.

Looking at the above poem from the perspective of the shell, any of the pebbles in your life can be the start of a poem or story. Inspiration is everywhere. It can be a song, a road sign, a single word. For me, the simple act of sitting in a car wash or going through the drive-through at Starbucks both led to 3-page scenes in my current WIP.

Good creative writing doesn’t happen overnight and is by no means instantaneous. It’s a collection process, and like the pebbles, some of your writing will stay with you, some will be discarded, and more will come on the next wave. I started writing Christmas short-shorts over ten years ago. I made them into story cards for friends and family. When I had written ten of them (one a year), I asked my publisher if we could put them into a book. (Christmas Quilt Anthology.) If you collect enough pebbles, they can become something more. The most important thing to remember is that:

You don’t have to be a boulder.

You don’t even have to be a rock.
Being a pebble is enough…

By Barbara Baldwin

www.authorsden.com/barbarajbaldwin
Author of numerous short stories and poems, 20 novels, and a documentary on state history.