The Art of Rewriting
So here we are, my son and me: I’m rewriting my screenplay; he’s rewriting his life.

What’s already been recorded is unimportant. It’s what we’re working on now that counts. As I strip away my excessive characters and plots, he removes that which in the past has weighed him down.

My son, who just this month turned sixteen, has already learned an invaluable lesson in life: no matter what your age or place, you must forge your own path to survive.

After an unconventional school year of studying at home, working with a private art teacher three times a week, and taking continuing ed courses at the New Hampshire Institute of Art (NHIA), he met Tuesday with the NHIA admissions staff for his portfolio interview. As we left the building, he smiled and commented, “that went well, I think.”

It was an understatement, I believe (and hope), and has served as a great boost to his self-confidence, something he needs as he dives into his GED next week. He handily passed the pre-GED, a short-form exam of the real deal that our state requires of the underage set, so we have high hopes for him. Still, we haven’t let his work schedule slack. Tomorrow he will finish two more GED prep books, bringing his year of home study to a close and filling three shelves with texts from which he has worked, not including the numerous magazine and newspaper articles, and library books and DVDs that he has devoured this past year.

And so the rewriting will continue. As he carves out his next chapter in life, I just might see the way to the new ending in my current version of my screenplay—my creative thesis that I hope to use as my final graduation project. Then I’ll begin penning the next chapter in my own life.

Anyone else rewriting these days? If so, enjoy the journey….

(NOTE: The image above is a tile created by my daughter in art class.)