It should have been resolved without letter writing or a presentation at our council meeting,

Some writers say they find the writing process lonely. I don't. Yes, it's solitary but when you can escape into a world of your own making in the company of potentially great characters, you're not aware you're alone.

If your written words become literal nails to crucify you with, then you have done your job well. You provoked a reaction, whether it is positive or negative is irrelevant. Writing that evokes no reaction is a body without a soul.

We try to get them comfortable here with the idea of writing, and keep them writing when they leave. We're all storytellers. We may not become professional, or published writers. But we can learn to preserve our stories on paper or video.

Especially when a person is deceased, you want to remember all the good things. The two fears of writing are how it affects you and how others will react.

This generation is not like baby boomers. They are more reserved about writing about themselves. But most are doing it for their families.