The Blog

Last Saturday at the CityLit Festival in Baltimore, an author in one of the sessions I attended talked about an “ah-ha” moment in writing her novel. Nora Pierce, author of The Insufficiency of Maps, explained that she first thought her book was primarily about a mother, but as the writing progressed, she discovered it was really the story of the daughter. The only way the daughter could tell her story, though, was to tell the story of the mother. Wow. That’s the kind of realization that gives an author control of her material and breeds authenticity. It tends to happen mainly through the hard work of revision.

Conferences are for other things. The CityLit sessions I attended had plenty of not-so-much “ah-ha” moments, but more like Isaac Newton’s apple-on-the-head moment, times when one of the speakers dropped an idea that hit me hard. It’s good to come away from a conference with some practical tips on how to do something better. In this case, it was how to be a better reader (lots of good books were discussed) or writer (authors and publishers shared their experiences and handed out good advice). But it’s also good to come away with ideas to stir up some new thinking.

Two ideas that whacked me came from a session on short stories, both of them from Michael Downs, author of The Greatest Show. Downs said the idea that defines the short story for him is that all love has some pain, but we don’t mind because it’s worth it. Hmmm. Short stories are rascally creatures that are hard to pin down, but I think he’s on to something. The mixture of pain, love, and acceptance creates an experience that’s hard to forget. It also leads to another definition he offered for short stories. He said that a novel is life and a short story is a vivid memory. Most writers agree that a short story builds to a single climax, makes a single point. Downs’s thoughts on the subject help that idea come to life.

 I like the way Downs talks about short stories. The thought of trying to create that vivid memory with the right mixture of love and pain so that we don’t mind the pain is enough to send me scurrying back to the computer to tear into my own stories. If I work hard enough, maybe I’ll have the “ah-ha” moment I need.