by
Fred McCaleb
Saying that anybody can write wouldn't be quite true. One would need to know how
to form the letters of the alphabet with a writing instrument such as a pencil,
pen, typewriter or computer keyboard. He would need the use of one arm, hand
and fingers. He would need to know a few simple words.
What would one write about? The first choice would be to write about something
he knew about. He could write about his friends, about his parents, about his
possessions, about his brothers and sisters, about his shortcomings and about a
thousand other areas. There would be many unique areas in which he had
experiences he wished to record. One of my favorite subjects to write about is
the history of my ancestors. Another favorite area is principles of good
living. I sometimes write about unpleasant experiences in WWII or in other
places. The area of doing positive thinking is a good place to pick a subject.
Who would be interested in your writing? Probably there would be no one
particularly interested in what you had to say even if it were very good. Write
down what you have to say for your own satisfaction and keep a copy of it from
now on. Somewhere down the line someone may read it after fifty or a hundred
years have passed and think it is old and unique and out of the dark ages.
Writing in the present time is sort of like talking. The fellow talking is too
busy thinking of his point of view to pay any attention to what you have to say
and your point of view. Many good newspaper articles are written and very few
ever bother to read the article. The author spent serious time researching and
writing the article, and then the article is only read by a few people. Most
readers are like my grandpa McCaleb when the editor of the Fayette Banner was
trying to sell him a year's subscription. My grandpa told him, "One could read
the Fayette Banner and eat a bait of popcorn and have nothing on his mind or
stomach either." He also told an early radio salesman that he wouldn't have his
radio because he (grandpa) wanted to half the talking. My aunt said he wanted to
do all the talking. So grandpa did the talking, and he did no writing, and I
have none of his writing except his signature to his marriage license when he
and grandma ran away and got married at Aberdeen, Ms.
One of the most interesting pieces of writing I have run into in my family is my
GG grandma Zilpha Galloway Hollingsworth's fifty page notebook. She was the
second wife of the first John Hollingsworth of
wife Matilda White had died after having seven Hollingsworth’s. The second wife
Zilpah had seventeen children and kept a notebook. Her penmanship is beautiful.
The births, deaths, marriages, grandchildren, Civil War service, family
transactions and everything is right there. Her grammar wasn't perfect, but
there was no trouble knowing what she had to say. I am so thankful for her. She
was the only one of my ancestors that wrote anything down. The writing in old
deeds and wills is interesting, but that was done by county court house clerks.
The earliest writing I have was done by a priest in an
time Christopher Columbus sailed for
Hallmark branch of my family.
Do you have to write perfect to be a writer? The answer is no. If you are
striving for perfection you may never get the first page written. The diary is
a good place to write if just writing for your own satisfaction. Do most people
think their diary is important? Most I have asked about it don't think so. But
the older a diary becomes the more valuable it is. I recently copied a diary
written by Nick Morris of NE Fayette County, Al. from 1891 to 1930. There is
some very interesting and valuable information in that diary. He probably
thought it worthless. He wrote one sentence per day for about 40 years and
mentioned things that can't be found anywhere else. What one writes is or may
be important sometime. Unfortunately, I have never kept a diary. Some events in
my life have been written down.
The letter is a good place to practice writing. Write your congressman about
your thinking on some political issue. A letter stating your views in your own
hand writing has more influence than your vote. It doesn't have to be perfectly
punctuated. If the letter looks too perfect the congressman may think it is a
form letter composed by someone else. Write your parents, brothers, sisters,
and friends. Save the letters they write you.
The letters will become more important the older they become. I have old letters
received through the years including the V-mail I received while on
WWII. It didn't seem like much then, but now I can revisit with my mother again
as I read her old letters of concern about me. She was always disappointed when
she went to the mail box and no letter from me was there.
I have tried to be a writer, but haven't become perfect at it yet. There is
always a comma, a semicolon, a colon, too many words for the meaning meant to
convey. The thoughts are poorly organized and paragraphed. But still I write. I
am sort of dumb on writing. I guess I am also stubborn, have an ego, or
something. So far I have never let anyone convince me that I couldn't write as
I did with speaking and singing. If you think you can, you can. If you think you
can't, you can't. So far I am too dumb to know I can't. I do realize I need to
improve, so some day there may be hope that I will be a good writer. But I
don't have too many "some days" left, so I better get busy and write something
of my times down.
I have written in my own way a family history of my ancestors. The main part of
this took up about 650 pages. It remains far from complete, but each time I get
something new I insert the new info into the book. To keep the book from being
trashed I have given copies to about ten libraries across the country including
the Mormon Library in
will know that I existed and thank me for the work I did. I get genealogical
phone calls and letters concerning common ancestors every few days. My
genealogical writings are in the Fayette and Winfield Libraries in the
genealogical section.
If you want to write, pick something you are interested in and start. Don't let
anyone stop you. You may become an authoritative writer in that field some day.
You may want to write about dolls. There are many varieties of them.
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