What is leveling behavior? A Bachelors in English and a Masters in Psychology have given Loren Leith the background to create stories featuring specific behaviors written in crisp prose. Her piece Basement Level includes not only the basement as a metaphor, but also a depiction of “leveling behavior” that traps her characters. It won First Place for Unpublished Short Creative Nonfiction in the 2018 Royal Palm Literary Awards. Loren talks about the effects of behavior, writing routines, and the importance of revision on this week’s RPLA showcase.
Loren’s Writing Journey
In fourth grade, my teacher discovered I had writing talent and excused me from history lessons so I could sit in the back of the classroom and create poems and short stories. Through the ensuing years, writing became my passion. As a child and throughout my life, I’ve been an avid reader and a lover of words. My favorite college class was Greek and Latin Word Roots.
I have a B.A. in English and a Masters in Psychology, and have been a Licensed Professional Counselor/Psychotherapist in private practice for over thirty years. Before becoming a counselor, my career spanned a variety of jobs including waitress, file clerk, proofreader, editor and copywriter, pool secretary, secretary to the president of a computer company, systems engineer, and adjunct professor at the University of West Georgia.
In 1984, I spent time in Honolulu at the Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Laboratory language training dolphins through a psycho-linguistic program sponsored by the University of Hawaii. I have a great fondness for domestic and wild animals, and both are often the subjects of my writing.
I finished my first novel in 2010.
The Winning Entry, Basement Level
Logline: Victims of a leveling-behavior individual are trapped in a metaphorical basement. Heavily impacted, one breaks free, the others refuse rescue.
The inspiration for my nonfiction short story, Basement Level, is a woman who constantly engages in leveling behavior, i.e., she puts people down to raise herself up, most likely because she suffers from low self esteem. Nonetheless, her incessant habit of interrupting people, talking over them, and making them wrong for what they say, think, do, and feel has a negative impact on many around her. I believe this piece is special because it describes not only leveling behavior, but its perpetrators and its effects on victims, as well. It offers instructive potential, and hope for those seeking to escape similar, emotionally unsafe relationships.
Two Truths and a Lie, Writer’s Edition
Get up early every morning and spend at least thirty minutes writing.
Less is more.
Revise, revise, revise.
The lie? Get up early every morning and spend at least thirty minutes writing. One size doesn’t fit all. You may not be a morning person and perhaps are dull and uncreative in the a.m. Once noon rolls around, you’re raring to go. On days you’re not feeling inspired, don’t force yourself to write, but give your brain a rest and let it “float.” Then, voila! Notice the ideas and words just spilling forth. So, do what’s writing-right for you and follow your own personality and rhythm—without guilt or self-recrimination.
Less truly is more: When writing, use as few words as possible to keep your story, poem, essay or article moving instead of bogging it down with too much description, emotions, and characters’ thoughts or unnecessarily lengthy dialogue. Write subtly; don’t over explain. Your readers are smart—they’ll most likely get what you’re hoping to convey. Use simple words. Instead of writing, “The noisome effluvium emanating from the rectangular receptacle in the food preparation province is assaulting my olfactory lobes,” just say, “The kitchen trash stinks.”
Revision is also essential. Join a critique group or two, and hire an editor. Writers often cannot see the flaws in their own work; they need a set of fresh eyes.
Other Works by Loren
I’ve also written a fictional medical/political thriller titled MOSQ, by Shepherd Graham (pen name). MOSQ won the 2011 Second Place Royal Palm Literary Award, and the First Place Pascoe County, Do It Write! Award. One of my nonfiction short stories, C.M., My Box Top Cat from God, won the Third Place RPLA. I’ve written other stories, as well as newspaper articles, professional papers, songs, poems, and stage plays for old time radio shows performed in front of live audiences.
Coming Next from this Author
Next up is a book containing the collection of over forty of my nonfiction short stories, and a studio-recorded CD of selected readings from the same anthology. Then, a sequel to MOSQ.
Connect with Loren
I don’t have a website, so here’s a bit of info: I’m 72-years old and since 1996, have resided in a log home in the mountainous region of southwestern North Carolina. My house is in the middle of the woods with no neighbors except for the forest critters. For the first three years, I lived without electricity and heated my house using only a woodstove.
I believe in giving back through community service and volunteerism. Some of my contributions have included: literary judge for university writing competitions, house building for Habitat for Humanity, board member for a cultural arts center, humane society and animal shelter volunteer, pro bono, domestic-violence victim and offender counseling, and waterways and roadside clean-up crew member.
More about RPLA
The Royal Palm Literary Awards competition is a service of the Florida Writers Association established to recognize excellence in members’ published and unpublished works while providing objective and constructive written assessments for all entrants. Judges include literary agents, publishers, film producers, current or retired professors, teachers, librarians, editors, bestselling and award-winning authors, and journalists from across the nation. Entries are scored against the criteria set by RPLA using rubrics tailored to each genre. Winners are announced at the annual FWA conference during the RPLA awards banquet. To learn more about RPLA, click here for the guidelines.
