by Joe Bunting |
To write fiction, you must develop your capacity be empathetic. In fact, you could argue that empathy is synonymous with story.
Don’t believe me? Plug the word story for empathy into this list of definitions for empathy that I found on Wikipedia:
[Empathy] is what happens to us when we leave our own bodies…and find ourselves either momentarily or for a longer period of time in the mind of the other. We observe reality through her eyes, feel her emotions, share in her pain. –Khen Lampert
by Joe Bunting |
Once a month, we stop practicing and invite you to show off your best work.
Are you interested in being published (in print)? Would you like to get better at the writing craft by working with an editor? Do you enjoy a little friendly competition? And are you a fan of The Write Practice?
Then this writing contest might be for you.
by Joe Bunting |
Earlier that morning, the reigns jingled softly in my hands as we rode along a split-rail fence. A velvet breeze rustled the meadow. Prairie grass rose and fell, rose and fell as eight hooves rose and fell, rose and fell. We would talk occasionally, but never for very long. Cowboys don’t talk much, but that wasn’t the reason why. I didn’t know the reason why.
by Joe Bunting |
In the spring of 1965, Bob Dylan was finished, says Jonah Lehrer in his incredible book, Imagine: How Creativity Works. He wanted nothing more to do with the music business. He had just finished an exhausting six month tour. He never wanted to play any of the songs he had become famous for again—songs like “Blowing in the Wine” and “The Times They Are a Changing.” He told his manager he was buying a cabin in upstate New York, was quitting the music business, and was “going to become a painter and a novelist.”
He was only there for a few days when he met what he called the “Ghost.” An “uncontrollable urge” to write came over him, and he basically word vomited into his notebook.
Four weeks later, he and his band were in the recording studio, and after four takes they recorded “Like a Rolling Stone,” the song that would change Rock and Roll forever.
All Because of a Cabin
Personally, I can relate to Dylan’s experience. Can’t you?
As I’ve mentioned, I’ve been struggling to finish a short story. For weeks, I’ve been wrestling with this story and not getting very far. It didn’t feel as much like writer’s block as life block.
And then Jeff told me this story, and said the secret of creativity is to relax. If you relax better, you’ll write better.
by Joe Bunting |
This is a guest post by Mariane Vest.
I recently read a book by Charles Baxter called The Art of Subtext – Beyond Plot. Subtext is what is not said, not told, but is implied.
Plot is a twisting bridge over a chasm, says Baxter, a chasm that, in my mind, contains the hauntings, the past, the subterranean, the things people either cannot or will not say, things that we are only partially aware of.
