Fireflies, by Veronica Jorge

EasternPennPoints Journeys: This piece was submitted by Eastern PA SCBWI member Veronica Jorge to share a part of her writing journey with other members of our region. If you’d like to share part of your creative journey, click here for submission details.

Fireflies

By Veronica Jorge

Ideas, like fireflies, swirl around my head. Which one should I catch? My eyes lose focus. Perhaps it’s best to capture them all and store them in a glass jar.

Sometimes writing is like that and I end up with a drawer full of Pulitzer wannabees. Like the flies in the jar that eventually die without air, so do all of my captive ideas. When I examine them again there is no spark. The light is gone.

I find that I’m a better writer when I am more purposeful. Instead of chasing elusive fireflies, no matter how bright, my focus becomes like a coloring book page of “Connect the Dots.” You know, use a line to connect the numbers and you create a picture; what a writer might call a concept, or idea.

There is so much disconnected information that zooms past us or bombards us, but it is the dots inside of us that represent the deep emotions and memorable events that have changed our lives. I discovered that writing is also a way of giving, of sharing a part of me with others.

So when I look for inspiration, I no longer reach for the fireflies. I search within myself for one of the dots that represent friendships I’ve made, issues I’ve championed, as well as events that trigger fear, anger, sorrow, or joy. Then that dot, eager to touch the hearts of others, sparks to life out of me and illuminates a page or two creating a great story.

---

Manager, educator, and former high school social studies teacher, Veronica Jorge credits her love of books to the potpourri of cultures that make up her own life and to her upbringing in diverse Brooklyn, New York. Her genres of choice are historical fiction, where she always makes new discoveries, literary works because she loves beautiful writing, and children’s picture books because there are so many wonderful worlds yet to be imagined and visited. She currently resides in Macungie, PA, but she’s still a Brooklyn girl at heart. 

“Fireflies” was originally posted in Veronica Jorge’s column, Write From the Heart, on the blog https://www.asliceoforange.net/author/veronica-jorge/. Used with permission.