Writing Challenge: day 21

Posted on June 25, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

My Dad with his first car in 1954

Today was more of the same from yesterday. I’m still working on Day 4 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge. I’m about two-thirds of the way through his letters from 1956. I found a few passages in letters that I think will work well in the history. Here is one I really enjoyed.

Hey, let me tell you how I fixed a couple of guys here. Anyway, Friday I checked in and went to work, and these two guys kept bragging about the good time they had made running a one-mile course. And they had been running it every day so they were in condition to do it. So I said let’s go out at noon time and run it for fun. They kept riding me about how they would slow down and not run too fast for me. So I just said to myself I will just show these two birds who will have to slow down. Anyhow, I ran them into the ground and best them both by several hundred yards. No more remarks from them then it was my turn to give them a bad time.

Here are a few things that I gleaned from today’s reading:

friends make life fun
being busy helps pass the time
he had the same pair of loafers for 5 years
he likes to buy and listen to records
likes miniature rose better than full size roses
called is car “old junk” it was built in 1948
embarrassed about his childhood nickname
reliable
responsible
realistic
private
respects others
caring
helpful
service minded
needs some solitude
likes cold milk
desires self-improvement and goal oriented
knows his weaknesses
his friends tease him too
thought of himself as “just a sailor”
protective
competitive
athletic
confidence in teamwork
learns from experience
not very close to his family
honest

Writing Challenge: day 20

Posted on June 24, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

My Dad with his first car in 1954

Trying to get back on track with daily writing after my vacation. I’m still working on Day 4 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge, with developing the character of my Dad. While driving this past weekend, it occurred to me that reading my Dad’s letters during his time at Key West might help show more of his character. So that is what I worked on today. I made some notes and copied sections out and put them into Scrivener for future reference. No major revelations in my reading so far. After all, I’m the one who transcribed these letters several years ago. But it gives me more confidence in my perceptions of my Dad and the kind of person he was in 1856. Here are my notes from today’s reading:

gratitude
lonely
longing for a family of his own
tender-hearted
kind
bashful
self-doubt in social situations
didn’t like Navy housing
looking for new experiences
love of music
frugal and willing to sacrifice for financial reasons
lack of confidence in social situations
reader
good imagination
hopeful
sense of humor
tease
willing to ask others for information
plans ahead
humble
challenges with expressing himself
enjoyed complements
likes to dance
bashful with strangers
bothered by things that go wrong
visual teacher
kind-hearted
wants to help others who are lonely
empathy
others saw his worth
bad handwriting
man of faith
observer
goal setter
self deprecating

Writing Challenge: day 19

Posted on June 13, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

My Dad with his first car in 1954

Now I’m working on Day 4 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge. Day 4’s email is about “Creating Authentic Ancestors” or character development. I learned I need to get to know my Dad better and the kind of person he was before I came around. They are coming down for Father’s Day so I can ask him some more questions, but I thought I’d see what kind of list I could come up with today. I’m not sure what he would think of this list. I think I’ll ask him to make a list of his own to describe himself when he was 24.

Description:

24 years old

6 feet 4 inches tall

Lean

Strong

Tan

Crew-cut

Sailor for 8 years

Explosive Ordnance Disposal

Diver

Dark Reddish brown hair

Hard worker

Leadership (don’t ask someone to do something you aren’t willing to do)

Fear of heights

Heavy eyebrows

Brown eyes

Quick smile

Helping hand

Caring

All around good guy

Healthy

Shrapnel in his shoulder

Loves SCUBA

Claustrophobic?

High school drop out

Alcoholic father (a mean drunk)

Shy with women

Brave in service to others

Willing to try new things

Good with mechanical things

Strong swimmer

Reliable

Dependable

Casual

Dry humor

Tease

Self deprecating

Athletic

Willing to learn

Willing to change

Dyslexic

Struggled in school

Thought he was dumb

Writing Challenge: day 18

Posted on June 12, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

My Dad with his first car in 1954

I finally got most of an hour in on my writing goal. Leaving it for this late in the day is not a good plan. I need to make it higher on my list, right after weeding and watering the garden. I’ve progressed on to Day 3 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge. Day 3’s email was written by a guest author Linda Gartz. She focused on how to get the first draft written. There is no one right way but gave some ideas of some possible approaches.

create an outline
you can start before you know exactly what the story is about
write unself-consciously
add footnotes to your first draft
use your own voice
start with a vivid personal event
write as you research

So I decided that I better just jump in and start writing. I thought I’d try writing as me talking about my Dad. So, trying to be unself-conscious about my writing here is what I wrote:

It is hard for me to imagine driving from coast to coast all alone at 24. I drove from Brooklyn, New York to Provo, Utah by myself (other than our 100 lbs. Dog) when I was almost twice that age and my parents weren’t very comfortable with it. But my dad did it and talking to him it doesn’t seem like it was that big of a deal. I hope that I can get details from him and memories of what it was like in 1954. How many days did it take. I know it was before they started the interstate project so all the roads must have been little two lane roads. I wonder how fast he drove. It certainly wasn’t 75 miles an hour. He was driving his first car, purchased in Hawaii, a dark green Chevrolet convertible that at least later he and my mom referred to as the bug. But not the Volkswagen Bug that is commonly referred to with that nick name. Ray was young and single and returning to Key West, the place he started his Navy career in 1947. Because he enjoyed the town when the opportunity came to return he put in for it. He was also drawn by the opportunity to be a Plank Owner at the first Navy School to teach underwater swimming with SCUBA. Up to this point there was no formal training in the use of SCUBA for Navy personnel. They just figured it out or went to the manufacturer for training. Ray had just such an opportunity in 1952 with a Navy assigned trip to US Divers. I’m sure this training helped him to qualify for his dream assignment in Key West.

The opportunity presented itself in the form of a letter sent out to by the Navy in the spring of 1954. Ray’s tour of duty in Hawaii was almost up and the opportunity sounded interesting plus he good buddy Demofonte was also interested in going. So the two of them applied and they were accepted. The next step was instructor training school in San Diego, California. For four weeks the learned the art of teaching in the general sense. Not how to teach underwater swimming but how to teach anything with a hands on kind of approach. One of the assignments was to teach the other students something. Ray learned a skill that has used the rest of his life from one of the other students presentation. He learned how to tie a tie. To this day it is the only tie tying knot that he knows more than 50 years later. I wonder if that student has any idea was an impact that assignment had on my dad. I had no idea that was where he learned to tie a tie. I don’t know much else about instructor school yet. I hope to find out more soon.

After successfully completing instructor school, Ray had a month of leave. Remarkable his parent now lived not far away and Ray spent the month of August with them. I wonder if his mom was as worried about his cross-country adventure as my mom was about mine? I wonder what he did with his time. I can imagine that he probably did odd jobs around the house. My dad has never been one to sit around and do nothing. I can’t imagine him not finding something productive to keep himself busy. But maybe that was something that he learned later in life.

Writing Challenge: day 17

Posted on June 11, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

My Dad with his first car in 1954

Day 2 continued of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge and the focus is first lines. Lynn suggested reading first lines from some favorite books but I googled “first lines of books” and found a sight with “100 Best First Lines from Novels.” As I started reading them, I decided I would use them as inspiration and see how many first lines I could write for my book. I came up with 41. It remains to be seen if one of these will actually get used but it was an interesting exercise. If you want you can read them below.

“Call me Red,” he said.
The dark green bug convertible wound it’s way across the southern United States in the hot late August sun of 1954.
Many years later in the face of retirement Ray Hoglund would remember his first drive from coast to coast.
It was a hot summer night in August as the dark green convertible chugged it’s way across the barren landscape of Texas.
I am an actual Navy Instructor, he thought. When he dropped out of high school at 16 he never imagined what his future might bring.
He would never forget the first time. The freedom, the ease of movement and oh, the possibilities.
He must have done something right to have the privilege of going back to Key West.
The sun shone unceasingly on the dark green hood of the car, made tolerable by the advantages of a convertible.
Twenty-four years of life proceeded this point when we pick up the story of Ray Hoglund. You may think you want to know how the choices of his life lead up to him driving across the country in an green convertible but that isn’t the point of this story, so we won’t go into it here.
Tall, lean and tan, Ray Hoglund sat at the wheel of the dark green convertible, the wind failing to ruffle his crew-cut reddish hair.
Hot sun and dry winds were the norm on the week-long journey across the southern Untied States, relieved only after nightfall, that was his favorite time to drive.
“Fill her up.”
The late afternoon sun made the shadow of the Chevy convertible race ahead of him on the road.
1954 was turning out to be a good year.
Somewhere in west Texas in a town he hadn’t noticed the name of, Red stopped to fill up the gas tank of he green Chevy convertible.
Everything changed the day the letter came. His whole future shifted down a new path.
Every time he visited his parents while on leave he was glad to be going.
“What is the next town?” he asked himself, as he study the map with his dark thoughtful eyes.
Just another 100 miles and he would call it a day.
“Can I drive myself?” he asked.
This is just the way it happened, or as close as Red can remember.
From the moment he took his first SCUBA dive his life changed.
Twenty-four, single and making his first solo drive across the United States.
To be a Plank Owner in a the US Navy Underwater Swimmers School. That was a dream come true. To be a part of it from the beginning. To help set things up right. Was it really happening?
In a convoluted way all the decisions of his life had lead him to this point. From his childhood in the suburbs of Chicago to dropping out of school to join the Navy to volunteering for EOD to get off the U.S.S. Macon to the first time he put on SCUBA gear, it all came together here.
There was a sailor named Raymond Walter Hoglund, Red to his friends and he was a newly certified Navy instructor on his way to Key West, Florida.
Ray Hoglund was exhausted. He had driven 300 miles today and still had more to go.
He took pleasure in the solitude of the long cross-country drive.
Let’s pick a time to start this tale. While any point will do, let’s pick this one.
In the beginning sometimes he woke to a sick feeling in his gut.
He looked like a sailor with his lean body, tan skin and crew-cut hair.
He loved it from the start.
This is the life. If you have to move from Hawaii, then what could be better than Key West?
When Ray Hoglund was in the Navy, they called him Red.
In the late summer of 1954, Red found himself driving from San Diego to Key West.
He was a few inches over 6 feet with tan skin and lean muscles from his time in Hawaii.
From High School drop out to Navy instructor and Plank Owner. That was a nice change of scenery.
Down the last few miles of road with ocean on either side of the road, the dark green convertible sped.
The long straight road stretch out before and behind the little green Chevy convertible.
On September 11th 1954 he rolled into town. Who knew that date in about 50 years would have a very different meaning. But today it was the beginning of a new a better opportunity.
The heat of the day was reluctant to let go to the cool of the night as the miles of road slipped slowly by.

I failed at my goal yesterday. I hope to make up for it later in the week. Life got away from me. I have to keep this as a high priority in my life and not think I can always squeeze it in at the end of the day. That is too risky and yesterday I just couldn’t make it work.

Writing Challenge: day 16

Posted on June 9, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

image from mappery.com

On to Day 2 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge today. I thought I’d start writing today but just ended up making a few notes. Today’s assignment was on the exposition or back story. There are five areas that you want to cover in this:

main ancestor
setting
conflict
theme/focus
tone

The first one is easy, my Dad. The setting for the start of the book is somewhere on the road between San Diego and Key West in the late summer of 1954. As I was thinking about the setting, I found a map that I used for my Mom’s Europe trip to show their cross-country bus trip. It is from 1955 and will provide some good information.

The conflict at this point is getting to Key West no later than 2400 hours on September 11, 1954. The theme/focus of the book is setting up the Underwater Swimmers School in Key West.

The tone, I haven’t really thought about this part at all until today. I’m thinking not too serious even though some dangerous stuff goes on. I know my Dad doesn’t want it to sound like he is bragging. As I’m writing this I’m reminded that my Dad has always been a tease with a rather dry humor, so maybe that will be the tone of the book.

There are lots of things learn and think about in writing. I never thought that writing was easy but I had no idea of all the different things to consider when writing a book. This has been and will certainly continue to be a major learning process for me.

Writing Challenge: day 15

Posted on June 6, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

I’ve followed my challenge for three weeks now. Yeah! I’ve been almost perfect with just one day that I had to do some make up last Saturday. I think I’ve finished Day 1 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge today. I spent an hour reading first chapters to get a better sense of hooks and inciting incidents. It was kind of fun. I’ve never looked at books that way before. I read from Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls, Foundation by Isaac Asimov, The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien, Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card and Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. Half Broke Horses is from the library the rest are from our own collection. You can see what kind of books I tend to read, though I’ve expanded my choice through our neighborhood book club but I haven’t purchased any of those books.

Anyway, back to the writing challenge. At the moment I’m going to start with the cross-country drive as the hook and the letter from the Navy as the inciting incident. Don’t be surprised if this changes as I learn and work through the process but I have to pick something and go from there. See you back here on Monday. I’ll probably have to actually start writing by then.

Writing Challenge: day 14

Posted on June 5, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Key West Outline

For today’s focus on my writing challenge, I worked on fleshing out the story arc that I did a few days ago. I’m thinking of it as an outline now. All the tan-colored stuff at the bottom goes with “teaching the students.” I think I will add some connecting lines so that is clearer. I’m not sure if this should have already been done or if it is something I can wait to do later but I wanted to do it and so I just got it done. I also listened to the first chapter of “Angela’s Ashes” by Frank McCourt as part of Day 1 of the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge. I need to do some more books to get a better feel for the hook and inciting incident stuff. That will probably be my main action step for tomorrow. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Writing Challenge: day 13

Posted on June 5, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

image from The Armchair Genealogist

I was a bit shy of getting my hour in today, but I did get 45 minutes. Unless you count the time I spent listening to The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It really should count since Lynn Palermo suggested that it is important to read other people’s writing about their families to get some ideas on what can be done. Even though it is day 13 for my writing challenge I’m finally getting to day 1 on the Armchair Genealogist‘s writing challenge. I’m taking this challenge at whatever pace it takes, not racing through it. I’m guessing it will probably take me most of the summer to get through it but by then I should have a really good start to this book.

So after a quick review of a couple of sections of “The Companion Guide to The Family History Writing Challenge.” I went to the Day 1 email – “How to Find the Beginning of Your Story.” Part of today’s exercise was to read some first chapters to see what makes a good start to a book. I’ll need to do more of that tomorrow.

I also learned about the “hook”, the “exposition” and the “inciting incident.” I haven’t figured out what the hook is yet for this Key West history but I’m pretty sure the inciting incident was the letter that went out in the spring of 1954 asking for volunteers for the soon to be formed Underwater Swimmers School in Key West. I’m leaning towards starting the story as my Dad makes his first cross-country drive from San Diego to Key West and then flash back to the Hawaii, and then instructor school and leave time with his family. I want to read more first chapters before I decided.

p.s. last night I got an email back from the Underwater Swimmers School website. They want to put some of my Dad’s stories in their newsletter. I told him that would be great but I still haven’t gotten any of them written yet. So in a few weeks I’ll send him something and hopefully they will make it into the UWSS newsletter.

Writing Challenge: day 12

Posted on June 3, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

I am happy to report that my Dad is fine with the idea of combining all the class experiences into one class for the sake of telling the story. Yeah! I think it will really help in making it an interesting read. We will certainly make it clear that it is based on real experiences but that they didn’t all happen to the same set of students in just a few weeks but over the space of 3 years.

Last night I put together about a 100 questions to learn more about his experiences at the Underwater Swimmers School. I started with the questions from StoryCorp.org and modified them for this specific situation. My Dad liked them so much that he called the guy in charge of the Underwater Swimmers School website and told him about the questions and said I would be sending him a copy.The website has asked students and instructors from the school to put together histories that they can share with others at their 2015 Reunion. It would be cool if these questions can help others to share their stories. I just got them emailed off a few minutes ago.

My Dad is taking the questions so that he can thing about them. We will talk again at some future date. Some of them are rather philosophical. I think my next step is to make a more detailed outline of the story but I’ll check with Lynn Palermo’s “The Companion Guide to The Family History Writing Challenge.” first and double check the first email for the challenge and make sure that is the next step. I still have so much to do for this project but it feels awesome to have a basic storyline that I’m planning to follow. In case you are interested here are the questions:

Key West Story Prompt Questions:

Who was the most important person to you at UWSS? Can you tell me about him or her?
What was the happiest moment at UWSS? The saddest?
Who was the biggest influence at UWSS? What lessons did that person teach you?
Who was the kindest to you at UWSS?
What are the most important lessons you learned at UWSS?
What is your earliest memory at UWSS?
What is your favorite memory at UWSS?
What are the funniest or most embarrassing stories at UWSS?
If you could hold on to just one memory from at UWSS, what would that be?
If this was to be our very last conversation, what words of wisdom would you want to pass on to me about UWSS?
What are you proudest of in your life at UWSS?
When did you fell the most alone at UWSS?
What are your hopes and dreams for what the future would hold at UWSS?
How did things turn out different from what you’d imagined at UWSS?
How would do you hope those at UWSS remember you?
Do you have any regrets about UWSS?
Is there any message you want to give to or anything you want to say to your great-great-great grandchildren about UWSS?
If you could interview anyone from UWSS who would it be and why?
Was there a time when you didn’t like being at UWSS?
Did you enjoy instructor school?
What kind of student were you?
What would you do for fun during instructor school?
How would your classmates remember you from instructor school?
Did you stay friends with anyone from instructor school?
What are your best memories of instructor school? Worst memories?
Was there a teacher or teachers who had a particularly strong influence on you? Tell me about them.
Do you have any favorite stories from instructor school?
Do you have a favorite friend from UWSS?
When did you first meet?
Can you tell how you become such good friends?
What lessons have you learned from your friendship?
What were the best times? The most difficult times?
What advice do you have for young people and their friendships?
Do you have any favorite stories from this friendship?
What was a typical day like at UWSS?
Tell me about how you ended up at UWSS.
Did you like your job at UWSS?
What lessons did working at UWSS teach you?
Do you have any favorite stories from UWSS?
Did your religious beliefs have any effects on your work at UWSS?
Did you experienced any miracles?
What was the most profound spiritual moment at UWSS?
Can you tell me about the illnesses at UWSS?
Did it scare you?
Do you regret anything about UWSS?
Do you look at your life differently now than before you were at UWSS?
What have you learned from this experience?
What was it like living in Key West?
What traditions did you have at UWSS?
What was your favorite thing to do?
Do you remember any of the stories they used to tell at UWSS? Jokes? Songs?
What was it like being an instructor?
How did it change you?
During your time there, can you recall times when you were afraid?
What are your strongest memories from your time in Key West?
What lessons did you learn from this time in Key West?
Is there anything that you’ve never told me about UWSS but want to tell me now?
Did anyone died while you were at UWSS? If so, what do remember of their death and what were the circumstances of their death?
What kind of hardships or tragedies did you experience while at UWSS?
What are the names of your co-workers? Describe one or more things that stand out in your mind about each of your co-workers.
Did you have special ways of celebrating specific holidays?
Share a few memories of your co-workers.
Where were they from? Did you spend much time together outside of work? Did they travel to visit their families?
What were they like?
How many had families there in Key West with them?
Where did they go to school? How did they end up at UWSS?
What were your favorite subjects to teach at UWSS? Why?
What subjects did you like the least? Why?
What do you see as your personal strengths?
What were some of the challenges you faced in Key West?
What medical issues did you had to deal with?
Was religion an important part of the other instructors lives? If so, what religion did they practice and what did it mean to them? If religion was/is not a part of there lives, why wasn’t it?
What happened to them?
What foods do you like to eat in Key West? Dislike?
Where there two or three dishes you ate that makes you smile every time you think of them?
What are some of your life philosophies or life views that you would share with others.
What are some of the personal values that are very important to you?
Thinking of people worked with at UWSS. Who would you would categorize as great. What did they do to be great in your mind?
List 20 or more things that made you happy while you were in Key West.
What scared you at UWSS?
What advice would you pass on about teaching that you learned from UWSS?
What are some of your talents as an instructor? How did you discover them? What did you done to cultivate and improve them?
What were some of the life changing experiences you went through at UWSS? How did you handle them? In what ways did they change you?
Why did you choose to be an instructor at UWSS?
What were some of the jobs you did at UWSS?
Were there memorable experiences you had with any of those jobs?
What would you consider as two or three truly significant challenges in your life in Key West?
What are some of the life lessons that you would like to pass on to your posterity about UWSS?
Provide a brief description of each place you’ve lived while you were an instructor at UWSS.
If you could go back in time and do things over again, what would you change?
When all is said and done, what do you want to be remembered for?
What are you doing now to make that happen?
What kind of health issues have you experienced from being an instructor for the Navy?
What were some of your more memorable extra curricular activities?
What were some of the popular fads during your years at UWSS?
What kind of music did you listen to?
What kind of movies did you go to?
What kinds of other recreational activities did you do?
How did the students get along with each other?
Where some of them difficult to teach?
What was it like when you arrived in Key West?