That A(maze)ing Thing Called Your Life

 

Sennebec Hill Farm

John Clark with his take on this month’s topic-decisions. The first thing that came to mind is a memory from my childhood. We moved from New Jersey to Maine when I was just over a year old. I learned later that the choice of houses came down to Sennebec Hill Farm, or a place in Warren, the next town down the St. George’s River. We ended up on Sennebec Hill Farm, but what would my younger years have been like had we chosen the other place? It would have included a different school, different friends, probably different career paths for my parents (chicken farmer, writer), involvement in different community activities...You get the picture.

What about dating? Who would I have gone out with had I gone to a different high school? How would those relationships have affected my outlook and life? When it came time to choose a college, would my choices have been different? I suspect so. Instead of going to Arizona State University, where might I have gone? Maybe my different life might have led me to doing something like joining the Coast Guard instead.

I think about choices in life like viewing a giant maze from above. Every turn produces different results, some good, others not so good. It’s a part of life that is both fascinating and inevitable.

The same is true when writing fiction whether it’s a book, novella, or short story. You, as the writer, have the power, and maybe the obligation to look down on that maze and figure out the most interesting path for your characters. It won’t always be the best, or the wisest, but with luck, it will be the most interesting one for the reader.

 

 We made our own maple syrup at the farm