Greetings, writers—
First off, a reminder about the one-day generative writing class I’m teaching on July 22nd. Details below. Don't miss out on the fun, or the excellent snacks!
Okay? Cool!
As I’ve mentioned, I tend to leave off writing these posts until the last possible minute, which means I’m usually casting around for ideas with a feverish gleam in my eye on Wednesday and Friday mornings.
One day while searching for prompt inspiration, I found a website full of quotes about writers and writing, with occasional and illuminating commentary—a kind of online commonplace book that also offered peoples’ pithy opinions about waffles, wickedness, and whiskey, just to stick with the W’s.
There was so much good stuff, and it was clearly such a labor of love, that I wrote the man behind it a thank-you note. His name is Dr. Mardy Grothe, and I learned that he’s gathered together the world's largest online database of metaphorical quotations, searchable by theme, which he calls the DMDMQ. It’s full of gems, and it’s excellent for what I like to think of as productive procrastination. (Dr. Mardy is also a Good Ideas reader: hi, Dr. M!)
The DMDMQ is also good for writing prompts. So today, I urge you to visit Dr. Mardy’s site, find a quote that you like, and run with it.
Of course you can go to the writing ones and grapple with them, but there are so many other possibilities! Being extremely random here, I offer a few suggestions:
You could consider the quotes about laughter—there are many—and write a scene in which laughter functions in different ways. As an expression of joy, sure, but what about hostility? [from the DMDMQ: Hostility is expressed in a number of ways. One is laughter. Kate Millett, in Sexual Politics (1969)]
Or, jumping off from this quote—But for the lack of language, a baby has many sad stories to tell. Hart Pomerantz—write a short, possibly absurdist piece in which a baby shares an unfortunate tale. (Btw, did anyone read Ian McEwan’s Nutshell, which was told from the POV of a baby in utero? I didn’t, but I do know it opens with this banger: “So here I am, upside down in a woman. Arms patiently crossed, waiting, waiting and wondering who I’m in, what I’m in for.”)
And for my final dice-roll of a suggestion (though I guess I’m sticking with the L’s), take a page from Maya Angelou, who said, “Language. I loved it. And for a long time I would think of myself, of my whole body, as an ear,” and go outside and let your body be an ear, and write down whatever it is that you hear. Or don’t write it down. Just listen.
And if you want more stuff to listen to, you can check out the most recent episode of the delightful podcast We Can’t Print This, hosted by journalistic dynamos Eden Dawn and Fiona McCann, in which I talk about ghostwriting, cowriting, and the time spirits told me to quit a job.
Finally, to honor the late, legendary editor Robert Gottlieb, the Paris Review removed the paywall to The Art of Editing. I really felt this quote from Michael Crichton: “In my experience of writing, you generally start out with some overall idea that you can see fairly clearly, as if you were standing on a dock and looking at a ship on the ocean. At first you can see the entire ship, but then as you begin work you’re in the boiler room and you can’t see the ship anymore. All you can see are the pipes and the grease and the fittings of the boiler room and, you have to assume, the ship’s exterior. What you really want in an editor is someone who’s still on the dock, who can say, Hi, I’m looking at your ship, and it’s missing a bow, the front mast is crooked, and it looks to me as if your propellers are going to have to be fixed.”
Various illustrious writers (Toni Morrison, Robert Caro, John Le Carre, Chaim Potok, Doris Lessing, etc.) weigh in on what it was like to work with Gottlieb. With Le Carre, for example, they’d both lie on their stomachs in Gottlieb’s office and attack the manuscript; lunch was always soggy tuna fish sandwiches.
It’s full of insights into the editing process and what it takes to be a great editor. And tbh, it made me a little bit sad that I’ve never had a hands-on editor like Gottlieb and likely never will. I’m not sure they even exist anymore, but if they do, they likely don’t have the time to work their full magic because they’re in P&L meetings all day.
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HEY LOOK IT’S A WRITING CLASS
Can you tell a story in a single page? In a single paragraph? In this three-hour, in-person workshop dedicated to the short-short story, we’ll read examples of microfiction and discuss how the authors create entire worlds in tightly compressed spaces.
We’ll consider structure, voice, characterization, plot, and more, and use what we’ve learned to generate our own pieces of extremely short fiction (or memoir). Since constraints so often spark creativity, we’ll be working with prompts and other encouragements, and you’ll walk away from the class with at least one short-short-short story in your pocket. (Literally: If you bring your computer, we’ll print your piece out.)
When: July 22, 10 am-1 pm
Where: The Writers’ Block in downtown Portland
How much: $100
Have any questions? Want to sign up? Hit reply to this newsletter, or send an email to writingisagoodidea@substack.com
What a terrific resource — stealing this writing prompt tip, Emily!