Bless you for risking brevity. I seem to have met a lot of people who think you have to write 20 pages or you're not being serious (or, worse, won't be taken seriously).
Enlightening as always, Doug. “Brain fizz.” I’m reading Bernhardt’s Woodcutters right now and it’s very fizzy. “As I sit in my wing chair” is such a funny anaphora. Hope you’re well!
I'm psyched that you're reading Bernhard. His style is OCD, masturbatory, incantatory, brilliant. Am enjoying your Twitter feed. Hope you can keep it going.
‘... the real story is much larger than that on the page’
This is going to resonate with me. I’m writing CNF which is challenging my ability to story-tell. Would love to hear your advice/observations on this genre.
I like the microstory and the long commentary, but best of all, the passage that I surmise could serve as your micromanifesto on fiction writing:
"you have achieved a certain density of semantic and syntactic play. You have invented layers, implications, clever juxtapositions and reversals, striking diction, emotional depths, and perfect characters (reflected in perfect names) who have all the personality they need to make the story work and no more. You have created a fizz of synaptic activity for the reader to enjoy. Brain fizz."
Thank you for this.
Your short story cuts a little close to bone. Love it.
I thought I had just finished a 670 word CNF piece...your post prompts me to approach it again...make it better.
Bless you for risking brevity. I seem to have met a lot of people who think you have to write 20 pages or you're not being serious (or, worse, won't be taken seriously).
Enlightening as always, Doug. “Brain fizz.” I’m reading Bernhardt’s Woodcutters right now and it’s very fizzy. “As I sit in my wing chair” is such a funny anaphora. Hope you’re well!
I'm psyched that you're reading Bernhard. His style is OCD, masturbatory, incantatory, brilliant. Am enjoying your Twitter feed. Hope you can keep it going.
‘... the real story is much larger than that on the page’
This is going to resonate with me. I’m writing CNF which is challenging my ability to story-tell. Would love to hear your advice/observations on this genre.
Yasmin, Here is an earlier Substack piece I did on essay-writing. Maybe it will give you some ideas. https://douglasglover.substack.com/p/elaboration-anatomy-of-an-essay
Thank you, Douglas. I knew you'd be able to pull a rabbit out of the hat!
Want to review my new novel, Dog on Fire? It's short.
Great title, Terese. I don't do reviews any more. But maybe. Could you email me via Substack?
Instructive stuff, Doug. Thanks.
I like the microstory and the long commentary, but best of all, the passage that I surmise could serve as your micromanifesto on fiction writing:
"you have achieved a certain density of semantic and syntactic play. You have invented layers, implications, clever juxtapositions and reversals, striking diction, emotional depths, and perfect characters (reflected in perfect names) who have all the personality they need to make the story work and no more. You have created a fizz of synaptic activity for the reader to enjoy. Brain fizz."
Enlightening and inspiring... thanks!
Thanks, Nowick. I suppose it is a manifesto of sorts. Also the paragraph on writing sentences. They go together.
Right, of course! That was disguised as a microstory, a show within a tell! :)