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Window on Writing: The Putty Grampa Flubberized

April 27, 2011 By Sandra Heska King

 

Flubber.

That was the word I grasped for yesterday when a friend asked how my writing was coming along.

The Putty Grampa has morphed into silly putty.

Flubberized.

He’s exploded, and pieces are bouncing off my brain.

He started as a simple glob based on less than a thimbleful of my dad’s wispy memories.

I thought I knew where I was going.

But I researched a little history, and now he’s out of control.

I realized that nobody would really care about him outside our family anyway.

So I turned to his wife.

Of course, she’ll have to be a nurse.

She wasn’t in real life.

But that meant more research.

And now I think have a story about two people that nobody in our family will even recognize.

Except their names.

I’ll keep their names.

I’ll throw in a pint of romance and a gallon of danger.

I’ll hurt them both.

I’ll teach them a lesson or two.

And maybe I’ll end up with story that the family will like.

Even if they don’t recognize the characters.

I hope more than the family likes it.

Gotta run.

I see a couple blobs up in the tree.

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Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. laura says

    April 27, 2011 at 8:46 pm

    for a pint of romance and a gallon of danger i’ll put up with a little flubber ;). I bet it’s not all that. it sounds quite wonderful, in fact! keep writing, dear girl. i’ll keep reading 🙂

    • Sandra says

      April 27, 2011 at 10:32 pm

      You know, it’s “easy” to write the nonfiction stuff. But if I can pull off a piece of fiction, I’ll know without a doubt it’s not me. 🙂

  2. journeytoepiphany says

    April 28, 2011 at 8:28 am

    It sounds like you’re doing well. When the characters start telling you what to do, you know that the story is beginning to flow and take over. Not such a bad thing, really.

  3. Louise says

    April 28, 2011 at 9:20 am

    Gotta love flubber! ‘Cause it won’t go away until we acknowledge it — sounds like your flubber is turning into something of worth! Way to go.

  4. Nikole Hahn says

    April 28, 2011 at 5:01 pm

    Flubber, huh? LOL. Good blog.

    • Sandra says

      April 29, 2011 at 8:35 pm

      🙂

  5. Susan J. Reinhardt says

    April 28, 2011 at 8:10 pm

    Hi Sandy –

    LOL! I wrote a mere 411 words the other day, and discovered there were maybe 11 I liked. Maybe I need to flubberize my characters.

    Blessings,
    Susan 🙂

    • Sandra says

      April 29, 2011 at 8:37 pm

      Did you see Carol Garvin’s post the other day when she compared writing to crochet. Reminded me how I always ended up ripping out stitches. 🙂

      What I Learned About Writing From a Crochet Pattern

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