Chapter Two (You know you smiled at the title . . .)

If you've read or looked through the book then you realize I set the tone early with Chapter Two. That was intentional and subtle at the same time. I wanted you to see where I was going over 300 pages. I wanted readers to know that this was going to be my boyhood memoir, written as a novel, and that it was going to be just as authentic as I could possibly make it. I wasn't going out of my way to be this or that, but I was going to be real.

In the linear order of the book's beginning, I used the Prologue to explain why I was writing this book. Then, I used the Introduction to paint the larger scene of people and places. Chapter One - The Beginning - was a simple chapter about my birth. My Papa R.C. really did have a Welcome Home banner across the front of our house.

It was in Chapter Two that I wanted to introduce my two brothers, and show a glimpse into our relationships and the culture in which we lived. I also wanted the reader to know - up front - that this was going to be about real life: Skinny-dipping on a hot summer day, and the boyish humor that would certainly go with it. You throw three naked boys into a public swimming hole - it's going to get funny in a hurry.

The chapter opens with a little ditty about the Jaybird. It was one of the first songs I ever learned, and quite honestly is as close to a family anthem as we have. All of us know it. All of us have sung it our entire lives. We aren't 100 percent sure what it even means. Even today when my brother Tim calls me on my birthday he sings the Jaybird song if he leaves a voice mail message.

Speaking of Jaybirds, the phrase "naked as a Jaybird" is a prison term. Back in the 20s and 30s, prisoners were referred to as Jailbirds or J-birds. Upon incarceration, they were forced to march to the showers naked. Naked as a J-bird. Our Jaybird song is not about that.

Our Jaybird song was about "mean-ass" Blue Jays that would hide in shrubberies and get aggressive if you got too close to them. It's a song about revenge against them, too.

With regard to the skinny-dipping. We did go skinny dipping - more than once - off the McFarland Road (Parkway, now) bridge into muddy Big Creek. My great grandfather was William Perry McFarland - my Granny's daddy. Daddy Perry and Granny Mac lived in a big farmhouse in the northeast corner of what today is the intersection of Georgia Highway 400 / U.S. Highway 19 and McFarland Parkway south of Cumming, GA. Now, this is an industrial and commercial area of the Atlanta metroplex. Back during my childhood, McFarland Road (not even called that then) was a dirt road. Just below Daddy Perry's house was an old single lane wooden bridge over Big Creek. Here's a photo of what it looked like, but it's not an actual photograph of the old McFarland Road bridge. (Today, the road is widened, paved, and the bridge looks nothing like this, obviously). In addition to the skinny dipping what I remember is the dust cloud that followed someone driving down the road. It was awesome. It was suffocating, but it was awesome to watch.

My Daddy Perry wouldn't recognize any of that area today. And, honestly, I'm glad he didn't have to see all the change.

Have a great week - SDV

Q&A : Is the book written on a timeline?

Is the book written on a timeline?
The short answer is no.
I made a list of all the stories that I wanted to tell.
There were about 50. That would have made the book too long.
I trimmed it back to 39, but included short versions of other stories as tangents within the larger stories. That way, everything I wanted to tell, got told but I was able to keep the word limit around 100,000. (A 100,000 word count is the sweet spot for a memoir - so "they" tell me).

Then, I just started writing the stories. I didn't worry about the age of the characters, or the chronology of the stories. I didn't worry about seasons of the year or current events. All of that, to me, was unnecessary clutter.

I did bind the stories together with props.
For example, in Chapter 8, "The Green Bike," I introduced my new bicycle, which was then a prop I could use in future stories, like Chapter 25, "The Crossroads." In several stories, I reach back into previous stories for a prop or an event or a person. So, while not written chronologically or on a timeline, there are threads that make it a complete work and not simply a collection of random tales.

How did you choose the name Acorn for your hometown of Cumming?
Because I had already made the decision to change many of the names around, including my own, I wanted to carry that theme all the way through.

The reference to Acorn is in the first few paragraphs of the book's Prologue. I didn't labor a lot on creating the name. The book had placed me in a very nostalgic and reflective place, emotionally. I had thought through all those stories, which led me to think about the men and women who influenced my life - all of my life. And, I thought about all of my classmates, who have gone to do such great things with their lives. One of my best friends is a full-time missionary in Africa. Another is a tenured professor at Auburn University. Others are lawyers, doctors, veterinarians, teachers, principals, preachers, nurses - and certainly good dads, moms and meaningful contributors to society. You know, you take this little town north of Atlanta and look what greatness has come from it. And, greatness is certainly more than careers. I think the greatest life lived is the man or woman who loves the Lord, leads their family, has friends in faith, and lives God's plan for their lives. If you and I accomplish that we can have preached at our funerals that we "finished well."

As an acorn is to a great oak tree, I just thought 'there's been a lot of greatness that's come out of this small town - my hometown." So, I went with Acorn.

Writing involves sifting

Let me tell you something.

Writing this book was easy and a lot of fun. I wrote the first draft from March 13 to April 21, 2014. That was 97,500 words.

Now let me tell you something else.

From the morning bell of Tuesday, April 22 forward the editing process was hell.

I never knew how much I loved writing and how much I hated editing. I clearly know now. And, having now worked with professional editors, I realize that I am more of a proof-reader. There's a difference.

The editing / proofing process is like sifting flour. You sift and sift and sift until it's refined. Then, you sift some more. And, mostly,  you let other people - strangers even - do the sifting.

Dear Lord, it was agonizing . . . all that sifting. 

Back during my 20 years of writing for newspapers, we had a simple system. Writers were taught to get it on paper. Don't overthink the grammar and the spelling - just get it on paper and then move it to an editor. Editors do the sifting. Sometimes, editors kicked it back to writers and said, "Write this better . . . moron." Sometimes, I wrote stories for newspapers and didn't even recognize my work when it came out in print. Editors sifted the me right out of it. I once wrote a story for the Atlanta dailies and when it came out my only contribution was this: By Scott Vaughan. The rest was by someone else.

You know what? Even with all the sifting, editing and proof-reading that goes on in book publishing, there's still an estimated one error for every 200 words. Yep, even best-sellers, they say. And, so writing and editing and proofreading and sifting - this is not healthy territory for a perfectionist, the weak, the insecure or the passive. Writing and editing is one of those arenas where you do the hard work, sifting and sifting and sifting, and trust that in the end the cake will taste pretty darn good. 

However, would-be writers take note: You can be an All-Star shortstop, but if you make too many errors it will take the shine off your game. And, let me tell you - foolish writers edit their own stuff. Poor editing and lots of noticeable errors can make a great book . . . sloppy and marginal. There's no rushing a book project - the sifting must occur.

Let me give you an idea of what the sifting of my book was like. It was maddening.

As I wrote chapters, I kicked them to my Vicki and my son William to read behind me. I asked them to look especially for continuity. William and I spent 30 minutes one afternoon debating a single chapter's direction. 

Once completed, I read it all the way through . . . twice. The first read was a rewrite and the book expanded to 103,000 words. I caught a lot of mistakes along the way. Then, I read it again to catch what spelling and grammar I could catch.

Then, the manuscript went to Elizabeth in Cincinnati. She's the professional sifter who doesn't know me or, for that matter, anyone that I know. Heck, I don't even know her last name. She ripped through the book; she beat on me once or twice. The book shrank to 100,000 words. She got used to my style. In the end, she said, "I've read a lot of books, and this is one of my favorites." I wrote that in dry-erase on the bathroom mirror - I needed all the encouragement I could get.

After sending it to Elizabeth in Cincy, I woke up one night with this sick feeling. I hated two of the chapters, and I had one story to tell that I had left out. So, I rewrote those two chapters, and wrote - thank you very much - another 2,500 word chapter. The sifting then began on all of this and ultimately it went to Elizabeth, too.

When I got everything back from Elizabeth, I read the book all the way through again. (My fourth time). I kept about 98 percent of Elizabeth's suggestions. My writing style flies in the face of some grammar style. I kept my writing style. As I read through the book this fourth time, I made notes that I called "flinch spots" - things I wrote that didn't add to the stories. I either rewrote or took those out. Think of the hard bits of flour in the bottom of the sifter.

So, then I sent it to CreateSpace - the independent publisher - so those folk could format the book, knowing I would get another chance to proof. While waiting on this proof, I passed the book off to three trusted friends and asked them to read it. I have more than three trusted friends, but I couldn't let them all read it . . . for free. These friends read it through - sfited some more - and caught a handful of things: A word left out of a sentence, an extra word in a sentence, and an inconsistency here or there (tree house or treehouse - I had used it both ways). You would think with all this sifting, everything would be caught, right? Nope. That's the madness . . . for all the sifting, there are still those stray errors. 

Vicki said, "Scott, deal with it."

At the end of all the sifting, I found myself sifting the sifting, and that was when it was time to stop and publish. I was exhausted. The sifting process took SIX MONTHS. I was sick of it. When a writer is sick of his work, it's a good sign he's done the diligence and it's time to let it go.

So, here's what I will tell you:

• Write your story, but don't be afraid of the sifting. Embrace it. Other eyes and voices will make you better.
• Sift until you are sick of sifting; don't rush it. Let it happen.
• Not all of a sifter's suggestions are good, but the majority will be. Know when to keep your voice and when to let it go.

An Audience of One

I wrote the book for an Audience of One.
Me.

That's how it's got to be. And, that's the best advice I can give to anyone who is writing. Write for your own enjoyment and tell the story that you've been given to tell.

Then, if you desire, invite the world to join in through publishing.

When you take that approach to writing, it's very liberating.

• You don't worry about what other people will think.
• You don't worry about sales or circulation, or royalties or profits.

Don't get me wrong. I love to hear good, honest feedback from what I've written. Feedback makes me want to write more. And, yes, I'd like to sell as many books as possible. But, those can't be considerations when you are writing. Those are considerations that come with publishing. When you write, you have to write for yourself, and pretend that no one will ever read this book but you. When you do that you can write authentically and have all kinds of fun with the writing process. If you ever allow your writing to be manipulated by marketing, well, you probably won't turn out a very good and authentic product. Trust me - I'm a marketer, too. I know of what I speak.

I had these stories. I wanted to tell them. I wanted to fulfill a promise to my daddy.

I wrote the book. Then, I found a publisher, who helped me with the editing and marketing.

I like the book. Parts of it still make me laugh and make me cry. It really does take me back to my childhood. Vicki says it's helped her, even after 30  years, to understand why I am the way I am.

I hope people will want to read it.

I hope people who read it are blessed by it.

I hope people will share it with the ones they love.

What story do you have to tell?

Write it down. 

Don't worry about grammar and punctuation. You can pay someone to fix that for you.

Just get the story on paper.

Do it for yourself.

Then, you can make a decision whether to publish it or not.

And, if you are having writer's block, let me tell you how to get over it.

Read.

The more you read - the more the writer in you will be stirred.

Until next time - SDV