Family by Debra H. Goldstein
Family.
The Merriam Webster dictionary defines “family”as being: a group of one or more parents and their children living together as a
unit; all the descendants of a common ancestor; or a group of related things. I beg to
differ with the dictionary’s definition. The basis for my argument is clear if,
during the past eighteen days, you read the Writers Who Kill’s group
short story, Broken Hearted Killers.
The
twists and turns, which I won’t reveal here, demonstrated the interaction that
can be attributed to parents and children, but in a way that went beyond living
together as a unit. The story showed how blood relationships and interpersonal
relationships create different types of families. It also demonstrated the
shades of grey, greed, and misunderstandings that can muddy whether the
descendants of a common ancestor truly are family.
More
importantly, Broken Hearted Killers, highlighted another type of family
that the people behind Merriam Webster’s offerings never considered. It is the
family of writers – a group of humans not related things – who came together
behind the scenes to offer their talents, wisdom, criticism, and humor to
fashion what you had the opportunity to read. Most of us have never met in person.
We don’t break bread or regularly have a drink. What we normally do in terms of
our writing is done in isolation. Yet, through the Writers Who Kill blog,
we share thoughts and ideas with you and encourage each other. Writing the
story, we put aside our differences and worked to the goal of producing a
coherent piece of work.
It
was fun. We threw in red herrings, drove our editors nuts by veering in various
conflicting directions, and offered our own interpretation of what family meant
in Broken Hearted Killers. We proved what has often been said about
writers in general – that we are a supportive family even if we don’t meet any
standard definition. Do you have “family” versions in your life that don’t meet
the Merriam Webster dictionary’s definitions or is yours a model “family?”
Debra, I hadn't thought about this before reading your blog, but perhaps this expanded defitinion of family is what happens as a community becomes more tightly knit.
ReplyDeleteIt was fun, wasns't it!
Good morning, Debra. I think family may be a subset of community or even society. Whatever it's called, I know I can count on my extended network of writer friends to support my creative efforts. From start to finish, "Broken Hearted Killers" was fun.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don’t write short, I certainly recognized the amazing effort of all of you in putting together a great story with so many different ideas and writing styles. Yes, family.
ReplyDeleteI had so much fun following the development of Broken-Hearted Killers and writing my bit. It was a little scary, too. Fear that my chapter wouldn’t live up to all that went before, or that I’d drop a stitch in the overall flow of the story. Typical writer’s anxiety! I’m proud to be a member of the family of Writers Who Kill! As for my other families – definitely non Merriam Webster. I come from an era of honorary relatives. Lots of them.
ReplyDeleteI loved taking part in creating Broken-Hearted Killers. What fun it was to write a chapter and then see how it all turned out!
ReplyDeleteWriting a group novella was crazy fun, wasn't it?
ReplyDeleteI love this, Debra. Family can (and probably should) be made up of the people we choose. I'm lucky enough to have daughters I would have chosen even if they hadn't been blood related. And I'm also lucky to have such a wonderful family of writers—some of the best people I've ever known, even if many of them I've only met virtually.
ReplyDeleteThis novella was such a great example of what families can create together. I enjoyed it more than I can say and look forward to contributing in a future effort!
I'm so happy to be part of this writing family!
ReplyDeleteOne of the best things about having written a mystery is that I became a member of the mystery writing community, and that has been so rewarding.
ReplyDeleteFor a while there, I was afraid we'd written ourselves into a corner in which there was no possible solution to our mystery, short of the dread Deus ex Machina, but Debra managed!
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to be included in this project.