No Explanations
At the end of Katherine Mansfield’s story, “The Garden Party,” a young girl, Laura, tries to explain to her brother, Laurie, what she’s just experienced. After an extravagant garden party at Laura’s home, her mother sends her down the hill with a basket of leftover food for the family of a young workingman who that…
Read MoreIt Could Have Been: The What-Ifs of Narrative
Cathy and I have been watching reruns of the old sitcom, My Three Sons, which first aired in 1960. At that time, I would have been around the same age as the youngest son, Chip, so watching the show has been a bit nostalgic for me. I remember the toys and board games I see…
Read MoreYard Sale: Let’s Start a Story
Cathy and I got some great bargains at Kroger today. Oak milk, two cartons for four dollars; quarts of vegan ice cream, buy one, get one free. Sometimes it takes so little to delight us. Thank goodness for the upright freezer in our basement. So that’s it. That’s the end of the story. It isn’t…
Read MoreAt the Start of a New School Year
Here we are again at the start of a new school year. Autumn, customarily notable for its decay—leaves falling and winter coming—has always signaled the start for me. I’ve spent forty-two years of my life teaching people how to be better writers, so fall has always meant renewal. It’s always been the chance to start…
Read MoreCharacters on Road Trips
At 12:30 a.m. the night before Cathy and I were to board a plane to Kennedy airport and then on to Burlington, Vermont, I happened to check my phone where I learned the flight from Kennedy to Burlington had been cancelled, and, when Cathy called Delta, she learned that there were no other flights the…
Read MoreKeep Working
Here we are at the end of July, the time when we begin to make the turn to the start of a new school year. For me, it’s a few weeks off, but those weeks will go fast, and before I know it, the endless days of summer will come to an end. It’s a…
Read MoreThe Importance of Silence in Narratives
My wife Cathy is in Chicago this week, visiting her sister, so, the house, without her to talk to, is filled with much more silence than usual. This has me thinking about how fiction writers sometimes rush to get the plot onto the page, neglecting the benefits of putting space around significant events through the…
Read MoreThe Emotions Behind the Facades
As many of you probably know, I had a stroke nearly twelve years ago. A blood clot traveled to my brain. Fortunately, I left the hospital, after two days, with no physical impairments. Since then, my doctor has had me taking an adult-strength aspirin every day. It’s kept my blood from clotting, but it’s also…
Read MoreSensory Trails and the Writing of Memoir
On Saturday, Cathy and I drove out to a living historical farm. The weather was pleasant—temps in the low-80’s with little humidity—and it was a pleasure to get out into the country. We walked up a lane along a field where a man was using a reaper-binder to assemble wheat shocks. We passed the chicken…
Read MoreQuick Starts
It’s a pleasant Sunday. Cathy and I have been out for breakfast and then to our favorite produce market where we got some Georgia peaches and locally grown tomatoes, zucchini, summer squash, cucumbers, and small, red-skinned potatoes. In the meantime, a granddaughter is about to give birth to her first child in North Carolina. It’s…
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