I am elbow-deep into a very interesting exercise for a storyteller; learning to tell lies in another language. Short writing assignments in Spanish have been difficult for me because I don’t yet know the vocabulary well enough to find the words to say what I want. This has slowed me down considerably, especially when one also wants to present creatively. The easiest way out of this predicament I felt, was to write based upon the somewhat limited Spanish I have already learned. This necessitates making up a story to fit the assignment, even if it is supposed to be from a personal viewpoint. All kinds of changes happen within a writer’s head with this scenario because it is hard to enter a character one has not created himself that developed a life of its own, but rather has been forced by royal Spanish command of el professore. Learning much more than Spanish here I think.
But if you see me in the halls, don’t bother asking why I am planning to emigrate to Portugal next spring.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology