Thinking about writing an actual short story again. I got my second degree in creative writing, and it seems totally foreign to me now that once upon a time I actually was writing a short story a month.
I think my weak spot has always been in writing dialogue—real conversation always seems so jarring in contrast to a narrator’s own words—so what I’m working on currently is a little bit of an exercise in that. It’s also an exercise in writing cleaner prose and shorter sentences. A bit Hemingway-esque, if you will, and a little noir as well.
One of my supervisors from my grad program emailed a bunch of us still in teaching about an opportunity to blog about education. I sent my writing samples in gleefully without even reading the blog first. I realized far too late that what I submitted doesn’t fit the voice of the site at all, and therefore I will probably be rejected. Wahhhhhhhh.
On the upside, in scouring my writing for choicest work, I rediscovered the “Memory” posts from my old Wordpress blog. Consequently, I decided I’ll repost some of them here. I quite like them, and hopefully you will too.
I’m leaving for Costa Rica for the week. Things possibly in store:
- ziplining through the cloud forest
- touring cheese factories and coffee farms
- lounging in thermal springs
- driving in a 4x4 down the Pacific coast
- baking on the beach
- attempting surfing
- horseback riding
- hiking through the rainforest
- swimming in waterfalls
- yoga every day
Unfortunately—or fortunately!—things definitely not in store include blogging, email, and cell phone usage. I most likely will have zero access to the ‘net during this time. But I do plan on taking plenty of pictures, and I also purchased a Moleskine (just to keep it extra “white people”). Gonna try my hand at this “writing on paper” thing.
It is a tremendous relief to read a book that totally, wholly, completely “get.” Every word nestles perfectly into your soul like your palm in a cast plaster mold. It is a relief because behind those words is another human being, and finally, for once, there is another human being who seems to know you the way you know yourself.
