A Sense of Community

Depending on the piece of writing I am working on, the presence and importance of community varies. But it wasn't until I was in grad school when a professor asked us on the first day to define community that I realized how everyone sees 'a community' in slightly different ways.

There are nine different definitions for community according to my dictionary online! The most common definition that many people think of when they hear the word community is a group of people living and interacting with one another in a certain location. As a writer and a mother, I interact with members of my community in many ways for many reasons. These experiences benefit me, my daughter, my writing, and hopefully my community.

Being "Earth Month" on my blog, I have been thinking about another definition of the word community: an assemblage of interacting populations occupying a given area (dictionary.com). An example of this is my backyard where my daughter loves to roam around. From the cardinals nesting in one of our trees, to the ants crawling over the groves of its trunk, to the moss spouting up in pockets between stones, to the occasional butterfly getting drunk on nectar, to the bees burrowing and excavating underground... the community is alive with life and full of interactions.

Writers may or may not use the specific details of such organisms in a community in their writing; however, we can all use the information such a community teaches us. Here are just a few examples of ways the ecological community impacts my approach to writing...

1. The interaction between the dead tree trunk on our property and the fungus decomposing it makes me think about how characters in my writing might be affected by the knowledge that one day we will die. A main character I've been working on lives each day as if it is her last, and this motto gets her into trouble.

2. The bees burrowing underground (I had no idea they could do this) are not deterred by the Spring rains that fall, my toddler's occasional stomping through their grounds, or my dog sniffing the little mounds of dirt. How often do I incorporate the effects of the environment, like weather, into my writing? How are my characters impacted by the actions of others?

3. I know it might sound strange, but the language of organisms in my backyard community helps me think about dialogue. What are the cardinals saying to each other as they work to build their nest? Are commands given? Details given of a particular twig? Some scientists believe plants communicate as well. How does the energy and body language of one individual tell another individual what is going on?

4. The fallen oak leaves from last season pile up among the ivy, decomposing and sending nutrients back into the soil. What resources supply my plot and characters with life? What is a constant input in my writing that I may not be consciously aware of?

These are just some ways the natural community has been teaching me more about writing. Some times the things I learn from my observations work their way directly into my writing, but more often they have an indirect presence in my writing.