Exquisite Corpse: Viva Streets

By David Duhr on May 29, 2012 in Your Work      1 comment

May
29

A couple Sundays ago the city of Austin shut down two miles of 6th for Viva Streets, and we invited folks to stop by and play some Exquisite Corpse. Below are the results. (To see “Figure One,” click to enlarge the photo below.)

It was a dark and stormy night. Cynthia tossed and turned to the sounds of the thunder, and her border collie Max–usually a heavy sleeper–paced back and forth at the foot of the bed.

In the way that frogs know the humidity will soon plummet and cranes sense the onset of the Northern Lights, so did Max know that something was heading for the cabin. His mistress slumbered, but Max heard … shufflings. Slouchings. Snufflings. And, between thunderclaps, a strange whirr. read more

Writing Tactics for Parents: How to Quiet the Little Anklebiters for Five Minutes So You Can Write a Few Words on This Blank Page Goddammit

By Heather Nelson on May 24, 2012 in Writing Help      7 comments

May
24

As I begin this blog piece, my 5-year-old sees that I’m typing on my laptop, skips over, looks at the screen, and says, “Mama, whatcha doin’?” Irony? In the truest sense, no, not irony. But if Alanis Morissette can get away with pissing on Webster’s Dictionary, so can I.

Parenting two small children is not the easiest task in the world. The constant noise, peanut butter hands, snotty noses and “poop bonanzas” (what my 5-year-old calls messy diapers) means you have to be Mother Teresa just to deal with it all. And if you don’t happen to be Mother Teresa, then you need alcohol. Lots of it.

Convincing the scrawny carpetbaggers to be quiet so you can type words—well, it is a near-impossible task. But I have developed the following tactics that I will now share with the rest of you bleary-eyed parental battalions: read more

On Dagoberto Gilb’s “Uncle Rock”

By Jeff Questad on May 23, 2012 in WBN Book Club      36 comments

May
23

(Editor’s Note: We’ll announce our June Book Club selection–another short story–in this space next week. Remember that for July we’ll be reading Toni Morrison’s Jazz, so consider getting a jump start on it. DD)

Welcome to the WBN Book Story Club.

“Uncle Rock” is one of many solid pieces in Dagoberto Gilb’s fine collection of stories, Before The End, After The Beginning, but it sits apart from the book and has a character of its own. It appeared in print in The New Yorker well before the book was released or even finished, and in its brevity and the way it crackles with color (especially in the third and final act) it fits snugly inside the book, even as it distinguishes itself as something of a stray. Perhaps it stakes out its own territory most vividly in the way its sly upbeat ending plays out. More on that down the page.

The story proceeds through three tight movements, a fully featured but terse 2,700 words.

MOVEMENT ONE:

The first part of the story introduces Erick, an 11-year-old Mexican American boy living in L.A. in the early ’80s. “Uncle Rock” is essentially a tale about Erick’s place at the center of a swirl of men who approach the boy’s attractive and available mother. read more

Two Planes

By Jacqui Bryant on May 17, 2012 in Writing Help      1 comment

May
17

Recently I’ve been trying to define what I think makes a story great and memorable, because how will I know if the story I’ve finished (reading or writing) succeeds if I don’t have some preconceived notion of what great looks like?

It feels like common knowledge that for a story to be good there has to be plot and character development, along with interesting dialogue. However, I’ve found that great stories exist on at least two planes, meaning the great ones tell at least two stories simultaneously. One of my favorite books, The Neverending Story, tells the tale of a chubby, bullied English boy who becomes the hero in his own story–while simultaneously showing that being the hero in his own story is tied to being comfortable in his own skin. It’s a lesson so big that Bastian doesn’t grasp it the first time and it takes a second, more personal, approach for him to realize that no matter how much he changes things like his appearance, he won’t truly change who he is if he doesn’t first truly know who he is.

What’s great about the two-plane story is that read more

Staff Spotlight: Steve Adams

By David Duhr on May 16, 2012 in News & Events      1 comment

May
16

Over the next few weeks we’ll be introducing you all to the wonderful consultants and coaches who help keep WriteByNight running like the smooth, well-oiled writer’s services machine it is.

Up first–by dint of being born an Adams–is Steve Adams. Below is a Q&A with Steve, followed by a brief bio.

Where are you from?

I’m originally from Grand Prairie, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. But I got my undergraduate degree at UT and afterward lived in Austin as a slacker/young local playwright-poet, while I worked at Whole Foods. Austin is one of my soul’s homes. I lived in New York City from 1998 to 2009. I also lived there for shorter periods earlier. It’s one of my soul’s homes too.

Where did you study? read more

Book Club Reminder

By David Duhr on May 15, 2012 in WBN Book Club      1 comment

May
15

Just a reminder, friends, that next week we’ll be discussing Dagoberto Gilb’s short story “Uncle Rock” for the WriteByNight Online Book Club. One little short story, 2,700 words. Do it! And join the discussion next Tuesday, here on our blog.

Details here, story here (New Yorker).

Next month we’ll also be reading a single short story, to be announced as soon as we choose one. If you have ideas, or might be interested in moderating the discussion, drop me an email or mention it in the comments.

And then in July we’ll be reading one of my favorites, Toni Morrison’s Jazz. Grab a copy this week and get a jump start.

National Short Story/Salsa Month

By Jeff Questad on May 9, 2012 in WBN Book Club      3 comments

May
9

(Editor’s Note: We’re kicking off this month’s WBN Book Club a tad late, but we’ll make it up to you by assigning some quick reading–one single short story. We’ll probably do a short story for June as well. Then in July, I’ll be leading the charge as we dive headlong into Toni Morrison’s Jazz, so grab a copy now if you want to get a jump-start on your homework.

Now I’ll hand it off to Jeff Questad, our moderator for May, as he fills us in on this month’s plan. DD)

May is National Salsa Month, dedicated to the appreciation and proliferation of spicy hot tomato-based condiments. Here in Texas, salsa is so revered it could be used as currency, traded for horses. But someone somewhere feels the rest of the world needs to think more about salsa. I don’t disagree with that. May is also dedicated to recognition of Latino Books, Bikes and Mediterranean Diets. This month, the egg, the hamburger, and the salad all ask for your affection. May is also Jewish-American Heritage Month, Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, and let us not forget National Hepatitis Awareness Month. These are all worthy of your focus and you should spend the month dwelling on them.

May is also National Short Story Month. Even if nobody is noticing. read more