Writing - 1 - My Dad

The expression goes: “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but the first way I heard it was from my dad, who said he thought it sounded better as, “A word is worth a thousand pictures.”

It made sense.

If I were to say, “Tree,” to you, you will imagine a different tree than what I hold in my mind.

The same as if I were to say, “Chair.”

Or “Hope.”

Or “Heartbreak.”

You would picture something different than what I would. A thousand people would have a thousand versions of hope. Of heartbreak.

A challenge in writing is to balance the universal with the specific. To transmit your ideas, but to leave room where appropriate for interpretation.

My dad also told me stories with my toys, the Transformers in battle. He-Man to the rescue in his Wind Raider. I have distinct memories of these. Of being a little boy, begging him to tell me more.

Someone insightful suggested to me that that may have been where my love for storytelling began. My origin story.

All that from my dad.

I must remember to thank him.