tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434699491181348092.post6149435016317526518..comments2023-09-12T09:09:08.656-07:00Comments on Well-Read Donkey: Story OriginsAggiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00745258157624796110noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434699491181348092.post-56108909121963796192009-04-14T22:46:00.000-07:002009-04-14T22:46:00.000-07:00You really need to get that story "Imagining the M...You really need to get that story "Imagining the Moon" up for more to see. It's one of the loveliest parenting stories I've read.<br />For my own story origins, I still draw much from non-fiction with a twist, or perhaps with a wry perspective. There's so much in life that seems odd, funny or bizarre that I want to capture and share it. The oft-cited phrase says it well: "you can't make this stuff up!" It can be Dick Cheney shooting a lawyer and then making him apologize, or me just trying to install low-flow toilets in a sequential comedy of errors.<br />I am starting to wander into fiction as I try to extend past the boundaries of reality, like adding spices to a basic meal I'm cooking. Even then, I'm starting with the colorful, ironic and very human world around me. I fetch a rag doll toy from my dog and the idea of a rag doll rebellion surfaces, a hoard of stuffed and rubber animals chasing a startled poodle out of the room.<br />Stories are everywhere, just waiting to be uncovered, understood and told ... with a bit of craft.<br />Then there's getting the time to do all this uncovering. Ah, well.jimchandlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06446422916578988762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434699491181348092.post-10923059456022696412009-04-12T06:25:00.000-07:002009-04-12T06:25:00.000-07:00Bobbie, I love this post - and thanks for coming t...Bobbie, I love this post - and thanks for coming to the reading! I do want to say, though, that the moral of that "bam" story was supposed to be that I would not have been there for the "bam" to happen if I waited for inspiration BEFORE I started writing, rather than MAKING myself write everyday even when I think my writing sucks.<BR/><BR/>And I, too, love the title "Imagining the Moon." So evocative!<BR/><BR/>- MegMeg Waite Claytonhttp://www.megwaiteclayton.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8434699491181348092.post-36213509321495705752009-04-08T23:54:00.000-07:002009-04-08T23:54:00.000-07:00This summer, I was given the exercise of writing f...This summer, I was given the exercise of writing fifty first sentences. They don't have to be about anything in particular, just 50 sentences for starting from. I've only written about 15 and have already cannibalized two for stories, which makes me think that I'll never have a nice stack of 50 gleaming, unused first lines.Megan Kurashigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15634436831771950903noreply@blogger.com