April 30th, 2011
Highway 1, Northern California. 2010.
When holiday tension breaks, there is an immediate abundance of brutal honesty for the whole family, enough to go around and come around, because we love each other. This past Christmas, the family split into teams and left the house to get some perspective.
My niece and I headed north on Highway 1 taking pictures with my iPhone and making up different versions of Jingle Bells as sung by animals. She took this first shot because she liked the way the sun reflected off the water. I was probably doing my make-up in the rearview mirror while she took it.
Roadside Wave, Northern California. . . . → Read More: Going Coastal
April 28th, 2011
I’ve got a month to get my next story in shape for this year’s Tin House Summer Workshop. I started last year’s story with dialogue. This year’s story started with a character.
I want to be on the brink of my writing ability when I go to the workshop. I figure I’ll get the best feedback if I get the story to the point of my own limitations. When I can’t possibly add or subtract without destroying or drastically changing the story, it’s ready. I’ve saved eight drafts in case I need to dig for lost sentences while I develop the character who is supposed to . . . → Read More: Preparing a Story for Workshop
April 16th, 2011
Soccer on Cement, Mission District, San Francisco. 2011.
San Francisco changes you rather than changes for you. It has a strong personality without being stubborn. If you abide the coolness and avoid resentment, the city will surround you.
You walk around editing your experience, but you don’t really notice what it is doing to you. Some parts were clearly as dull and necessary as margins, but you get that Baltimore pocket feeling when you hit a place that feels right.
Gaucho at Amnesia, Mission District, San Francisco. 2011.
I went to the Mission District several times over two weeks to meet friends for dinner and shows. . . . → Read More: The Mission Was The Mission
April 11th, 2011
Writing and editing cannot be done simultaneously. Writing requires freedom. Editing requests boundaries.
Yet, a writer can spend a significant amount of time setting boundaries throughout the writing process based on feedback and guidance from others.
When Tracy Kidder came to Portland, he mostly talked about his editor of 40 years, Richard Todd. I will admit to being both jealous and appalled at the depth of their writing relationship, which crossed the line between what I felt should be the writer’s “inner voice” and the editors “guiding voice.” Todd seemed to direct the craft of writing while Kidder was a content hunter/gatherer.
My opinions are probably based on a lack of experience . . . → Read More: The Importance of Being Edited
March 29th, 2011
When certain characters grow out of the lines I’ve loved, I want to track down a character who can say them in the next story.
These things happen. You’ve designated clear boundaries, idiosyncrasies, and expectations for a character. The beginning of your story is your story. Then, another side of the character emerges somewhere in the middle and finds a better ending than the one you couldn’t think of.
So now, you have to figure out how to edit the beginning to be more consistent with the ending. You start to wonder what kind of character would say these lines. Where do they . . . → Read More: From the Ashes of Edits
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