Finding a Voice
I miss the daily prompts. Now on my own, independent and free lancing is akin to being afloat in the ocean. Just when I tired of trolling for subjects, I found a small book by Sarah Ruhl: 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write. While I've only read one short piece I'm intrigued with the titles for a number of her essays -- On ( fill in the blank).
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Suppose I wrote a short paragraph titled: On Falling Asleep While Meditating
It doesn't happen often and I always respond to any accusation, " No, I was in a deep meditative state." Am I ashamed? Am I weak or not well versed in how to follow my breath without letting it lead me into a sleep state? Or am I meditating to sneak a nap in without acknowledging the truth?
According to Ursula K.LeGuin, "Essays are always in the head, they don't have bodies the way stories do...Best of all is if they can find bodies and begin to tell a story."
May is Short Story month. And yes there is a challenge-- write a short story a day for the month of May. Probably flash fiction is the way to proceed. Stories may be as short as 500 words or even 300. If I take Ursula to heart I need a character who meditates each day. The character needs a conflict. Perhaps this is the way to go, but it does sound arduous.
Maybe I'll respond or mediate on Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg's new book Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers.
At one point Avivah refers to the " secret cavities of human experience." I'm beginning to see some possibilities. Essays morphing into flash fiction that explores those secret cavities.
,
,
Suppose I wrote a short paragraph titled: On Falling Asleep While Meditating
It doesn't happen often and I always respond to any accusation, " No, I was in a deep meditative state." Am I ashamed? Am I weak or not well versed in how to follow my breath without letting it lead me into a sleep state? Or am I meditating to sneak a nap in without acknowledging the truth?
According to Ursula K.LeGuin, "Essays are always in the head, they don't have bodies the way stories do...Best of all is if they can find bodies and begin to tell a story."
May is Short Story month. And yes there is a challenge-- write a short story a day for the month of May. Probably flash fiction is the way to proceed. Stories may be as short as 500 words or even 300. If I take Ursula to heart I need a character who meditates each day. The character needs a conflict. Perhaps this is the way to go, but it does sound arduous.
Maybe I'll respond or mediate on Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg's new book Bewilderments: Reflections on the Book of Numbers.
At one point Avivah refers to the " secret cavities of human experience." I'm beginning to see some possibilities. Essays morphing into flash fiction that explores those secret cavities.
,
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