My Passion for Writing Taught My Family Good Grammar by Peter Leavell

Boise is a biking paradise with 30 miles of paved trail along a tumbling mountain river, a tributary that gives the Idaho capital its christened name, City of Trees. I love jogging the path and listening to the birds and rushing water. Sometimes, I see deer and bald eagles within a few blocks of high rises and a football field with blue grass. People wave as they pass each other. I suppose the Greenbelt is one reason Boise is the fastest growing city in the nation. It’s amazing.

Yesterday, while I jogged along the river, a mom biked toward me, a trailer with child inside pulled behind. The joy on the mother’s face was as bright as the afternoon sun reflecting off the river.

It warmed my heart, seeing mother and child out for the afternoon. She slowed as she neared the zoo, the giraffe leaning over the palisade to say hello to people on the path.

Like the mother and child, as writers, we take those we love with us on our journey.

The mother’s ride was across smooth asphalt, but the trailer’s right wheel extended over the path onto the gravel shoulder.

We can’t always see how our journey is affecting the ones we love.

The trailer careened wildly side to side and up and down. Through the wire mesh, I saw the child flail helplessly.

Sometimes we think the journey of our writing career is hard on our families.

As the mother and child passed, I saw the baby was laughing and screaming with delight.

Even though we might feel guilty over the bumps and hurdles and time constraints of our writing career on our families, many times the journey teaches them:

—dream big, and dream together.
—daily discipline as a family, and as a family forgets to cook dinner, they dash about together making eggs and toast.
—the journey of a faraway goal is special, and obtainable.
—perseverance/work ethic can really put a crimp in their TV binge watching.
—how to handle emotional trauma.
—how not to handle emotional trauma.
—how to communicate with others, through writing.
—how to avoid strangers, through writing.
—how to keep a special writer’s mug safe by not washing it every day.
—grammar.
—don’t listen to the naysayers, for they know not what they speak of.
—experiences can be used for good or for bad: to make yourself a victim or to use in a blog.

What have you noticed your obsession with writing teaches others?

What my passion for writing teaches my family. @peterleavell #writerslife #seriouslywrite

'My passion for writing taught my family good grammar' and other life lessons for a writer. @peterleavell #writerslife #seriouslywrite

Peter Leavell, a 2007 graduate of Boise State University with a degree in history and currently enrolled in the University's English Lit Graduate program, was the 2011 winner of Christian Writers Guild's Operation First Novel contest, and 2013 Christian Retailing's Best award for First-Time Author. A novelist, blogger, teacher, ghostwriter, jogger, biker, husband and father, Peter and his family live in Boise, Idaho. Learn more about Peter's books, research, and family adventures at www.peterleavell.com.