Whatever Happened to Fast Starts?

I read a lot of student-written short stories, and these days I’m left to wonder whether opening amid significant action, and with just a touch of mystery, has fallen out of favor. “I was in bed when I heard the gate.” So begins Raymond Carver’s story, “I Could See the Smallest Things.” Tobias Wolff’s “Next…

Read More

Quick 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…

Read More