...You’re invited to write a “Bedtime Story”…
In 2021 I had the opportunity to journey to the (relatively) covid-free country of Australia. While visiting the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, I saw the painting below by Caitlin Kearney. It was entitled “Precipice”, and part of the matching description read: “I have depicted myself in my childhood bedroom – a place of safety and security – in the transition between childhood and adulthood, which is a time that is challenging enough without a monumental shift to explore the way in which the world operates. …”
I was so moved by the work that I had to sit down for nearly thirty minutes. It had immediately reminded me of a story told to me by a close personal friend about three years ago. She had talked about sitting on her bed alone and crying every day in an attempt to shed the hurt and reconcile a life-changing event that she was going through.
While I was reflecting, I was also reminded of other experiences and stories related to the bedroom. That it was a place of more than just my friend’s pain, but also a place of joy, trust, and connection. They say that the kitchen is the central part of a home that brings the family together. But the bedroom is equally essential for it is a place that can touch a person’s soul.
Its purpose is different for each individual, and its role changes throughout a person’s life. It can be a place where kids are happiest when they build blanket forts, have sleepovers with their friends, get their first bedroom by themselves, close the door with a sign that says “Private – Keep Out” as they begin to deal with life. Where couples can come together to share life’s love and sorrows, a safe place to be alone for whatever the need, be sheltered and not be judged or shamed. A place to share with the first crying baby, the kids bringing mom breakfast on Mother’s Day, and grandchildren snuggling up with grandparents in a big fluffy bed on a cold winter’s day. Even establishing a temporary bedroom in the living area to take care of an ill family member is a special bedroom.
The bedroom may truthfully be the most important room in the world, especially as we experience various degrees of lockdown during the current pandemic.
With this thought in mind, I reached out to another close friend. She had recently moved into a new home and was going through redecorating. She had just sent me pictures of the guest bedroom and said that the room was ready for my visit once the world opened up again. What was amazing is that she always takes great care in personalizing each bedroom – her and her husband’s room, guestrooms, and helping her kids create unique spaces for themselves. She is also a bit of a writer, so I knew it would be great to collaborate on an exciting new idea.
So here it is! WordyPants invites you to write your favourite “Bedtime Story”. Share with the world what special place the bedroom means to you. We know that when you saw the painting and read the paragraphs above, one or two (or maybe even more) thoughts immediately jumped into your mind that stirred an emotion within you.
We hope to collect 40 to 50 short stories from our friends and family, arrange them in a book, and have it published to share with the world. We want to share those treasured moments you think others might reflect on and relate to.
We know you have probably thought about writing some sort of story – maybe even becoming a published author. Here’s your chance. You might have stopped with just the idea or might have even penned a few pages before quitting. You might have been afraid you didn’t have enough material for a whole book or that it wouldn’t be good enough to go through the entire publishing process.
We only want you to write one short story. Only about 1,500 to 2,000 words. That’s about the length of a single chapter in a book or a blog on the internet. You’d be surprised that you could write that number of words and re-read it a couple of times to make changes in less than a day! The lockdown may have given you a little spare time to write – and this will take you away from eating all that baking you’ve been doing. If you end up getting the writing bug, you might even pen another short bedtime story or two. To give you an idea, the first draft of this invite (about a thousand words) was written in about two hours.
As said above, the plan is to collect stories from our friends and families – adults and kids. We hope to select approximately 40 to 50 from what we receive. This means a total of 60,000 to 80,000 words – the size of a complete novel! Together we can all help make that happen.
Have some fun with it. Tell your stories that are happy and sad. Those that remind us of the past and that give us hope for the future. Fiction is welcome, but a solid dose of reality is what we are looking for. You are welcome to embellish and dream, but remember that even the best fiction is often drawn from a personal experience. You can be both nice and naughty (but don’t be explicit). There are many creative and artistic words in the world to use to express yourself, so try expanding your vocabulary.
Many stories will likely be very personal – that comes straight from the heart. You can use your own name as the author or create a pseudonym if you want anonymity. Only we will know who the story actually comes from. The name you tell us as the author is what we’ll publish in the final book.
Let’s get the journey started. Please pick up the challenge we’ve invited you to. Write your “Bedtime Story” and share it with the world!
If you have any questions or story submissions, you can reach us at the Contact page on this website.