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Posted on May 4, 2012 by erin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please welcome Elena Soninno, a freelance writer, National Board Certified teacher, runner,(aspiring) triathlete, and chaser of dreams. She lives with her  seven (going on 17) year-old daughter and former rocket scientist  husband in Northern Virginia. A believer in living life one moment at a time, Elena documents her travels through life at CiaoMom.com, as a contributor to TravelingMom.com, and is the founder of JustBeEnough.com where the voices of many tell a story of celebrating our strengths.   Promoting the need to build self sufficiency in others, she is a member  of Bloggers4Haiti and is on the American Cancer’s Society Blogger  Advisory Council working towards More Birthdays. You can find Elena on Twitter & on Facebook laughing, venting, promoting, and sharing.

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In second grade, my teacher told my parents that I was too creative as a writer. I don’t recall what my stories were about, but I remember loving to write. She however, apparently did not appreciate my love of the written word. Luckily, I was able to (mostly) ignore that voice and continue writing. In fifth-grade I wrote atravel essay about Egypt that was published in our local newspaper.  My first “published” book in seventh grade–Janet’s Glasses– still sits on my bookcase. A junior high series based on my friends, a la Sweet Valley High.

Later I took to writing letters to myself in a diary. I imagine my great grandchildren going through it one day, on the floor around a box of old journals,  learning about my sacred emotions, biggest fears, and largest triumphs.

One day though, that changed. My notion of myself as a writer became more real. Not just a school assignment or a diary entry anymore. This was different.

It was a fall day. I was at home with my daughter who had strep throat (again).  She watched television as I sat on the couch with her, my eyes scrolling through Facebook on my laptop.  I began to hear voices start to echo in my ears despite the sounds of Dora the Explorer streaming from the television. The voices said I should tell my story of surviving cancer.  The story of giving birth to a daughter despite being in early menopause. The  story of finding love again and getting remarried.

So I did. In  October 2009 I started telling the story. A story that for a long time I was uncomfortable owning. I never wanted to be “that” girl, the one who was sick.  I never wanted to be “that” woman, the one who drew looks of pity from her friends. I wanted to be strong and independent.  But in that moment, on the couch…I opened Blogger and  created a blog.

Fast forward to now. A voices still rings in my ear.  This time the voice is telling me that my writing is….blah. It’s not descriptive enough. It doesn’t evoke thinking or prompt people to react (or comment). My use of punctuation is inconsistent. It is not eloquent or polished.

For better or worse, the voice is not wrong.  I write in a conversational tone. I use ellipses and parentheses as if I’m sitting next to someone, pausing as I speak. And I talk a lot. I ramble. I use short or incomplete sentences for effect. To highlight.  The emotion. I use run on sentences because…well, just because.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve written many a post that led readers in a direction other than I’d intended. Because I digressed. Because I was too sarcastic, or maybe not sarcastic enough.

And yet I still consider myself a writer. Sitting down to write still brings with it a sigh of relief as the words jump from my brain to the screen. I may not be the most poetic or graceful of writers. I may not be the writer that has publishers knocking or editors swooning. But I write. I tell stories. I am brutally honest and maybe even inspirational every now and then. There is quite possibly a book inside my brain or a magazine  column about living life, one moment at a time that would love to see the light of day.

For now the unpolished, rambling,  choppy sentence writer in me will keep doing what I know.

I will tell the story.

I will use my voice.

I will be me.

This entry was posted in Show Us Your Roots Guest Posts and tagged being a writer, being me, blogger, blogging, cancer, Ciao Mom, diary, Dora, Dora the Explorer, Elena Sonnino, i am a writer, journaling, Just Be Enough, menopause, roots, sick, writing. Bookmark the permalink.

← Mom Blogger Friends: Please Help My Research-y Friends!

Get Off Your Ass & Just Do It. →

• IASoupMama

  I have been known to interrupt myself on my own blog — my favorite tool is the dash and I totally admit to over-using it.  I hyphenate words that aren’t supposed to be hyphenated for emphasis.  I think it takes a strong voice to write as you talk, because most kids in school are taught to write as they read, so they all end up writing expository paragraphs that sound like they should be in textbooks, because Houghton-Mifflin is the voice to which every writer aspires.

  I love reading conversational writers, so write on!

• firmtofarm.blogspot.com/ Colleen

  Beautiful post.  I feel the same way about the way I write and my blog.  I used to want to be a writer, then I felt like all the creativity got sucked out of me by life.  Now I ramble in text on my blog.
  Way to use your voice to make a change!

• twitter.com/citherrien Cheryl Therrien

  Conversational is writing is the best! I should know. I do it all the time. LOL Carry on… 

  • Elena

    Now if only I started documenting the voices that I hear in my head.

• twitter.com/ksluiter Kate Sluiter

  I always love how confident Elena’s writing is.  I always want to yell BOOM at the end

  • Elena

    Oh Katie…thank you. That means so incredibly much coming from a woman whose words are so powerful

• Gooddayregularpeople

  It’s your voice we fell in love with, E. The very real voice comes through, the one of wanting to help others in any way you can.

   

  • Elena

    Thank you A. I am more and more convinced about the importance of the story and advocating for empowerment. Xo

• twitter.com/lauraBseymour Laura S.

  I haven’t read your blog (I’m about to start!), but your writing style sounds very much like mine. And the voice? Keep listening to it. Keep doing what you love. Tell your story, and even if no one listens (but they ARE!!), keep believing in yourself. There is not a “textbook” way to write, so keep doing what you do & be bold in who you are as a writer. And now, I’m headed over to read the story of you.

  • Elena

    Thank you Laura, being bold and passionate is absolutely key for me….it is what makes us who we are and what brings us together.

• www.vidyasury.com/ Vidya Sury

  What a pleasure to “meet” you, Elena. I’ve read many posts on your blog JustbeEnough. Your story is amazing. This is one of the things I love about blogging – connecting with wonderful people like you. I admire your “voice”. I am glad it turned out to be stronger and louder than everything else. Love, Vidya

• janasthinkingplace.com/ Jana A (@jana0926)

  Your voice is just that… yours. It’s strong and loud and YOURS. And it moves people to do great things. Your great-grandchildren are going to love your journal of letters. But they’ll probably be like, what is this? Heiroglyphics? Is this what they called paper? 

• terrisonoda.net/ Terri Sonoda

   Hi Elena and Erin.  I enjoyed this post so much.  Your “I write in conversational tone….” paragraph fits me to a tee.  In fact, I didn’t even realize it until my grown son told me, “Mom I like reading your stuff because you write just like you talk.”   Well, I hope that’s not entirely true, but it was indeed a compliment coming from him.  Thanks for sharing with us.  Very enjoyable and relatable piece!
  Terri

• twitter.com/mommyhoodnxtrt Jessica

  I really enjoyed this post and could relate on so many levels. I think half of the battle of “being” a writer is believing that you are one already, that you have a rich story to tell and that others really do care. I go in and out on the latter one, or whether people really care about some of seemingly fragmented parts of my life, but I continue on.

  Elena, I admire your courage and all of your work. Keep writing! Keep telling your story! Keep on!

• www.misselaineouslife.com Elaine A.

  I love the last part of this Elena, because I can SO relate to it.  I consider myself a writer too but that doesn’t mean I have a book up there or the perfectly polished post on my blog.  But I’m still a writer, just like YOU.  Thank you for speaking out for all of us!  

  • Elena

     My goodness Elaine, thank you for that. I always envy those that can are so poetic and polished, but try as I might, I am just not that writer. It is always good to know that there are more of “us” out there

• Juliecgardner

  I know what you mean about the conversational tone; I actually read my posts out loud before publishing them – partly as a way to proofread and partly because I like the music of the words…

  And yet.

  I sometimes find myself wanting to put something in bold or italics – to add unnecessary punctuation because I want to control the WAY someone reads my thoughts.

  It’s hard to surrender the words that are inside you to the outside world; to know that others might see things you didn’t see, think things you didn’t think; perhaps misunderstand.

  And yet.

  Maybe they will get even more from what you’ve written than you can possibly imagine. 
  This hope keeps me going when I want to quit. Which is often. 

  But I don’t. And I hope you keep writing, too…