Monthly Archives: September 2008

until I see what I say

Posted on September 16, 2008 by

One of the reasons I write is to find out what I’m thinking, what I mean to say, and then to be able to hold onto it.  When I talk, I often repeat myself with such slight variations that it … Continue reading →

Posted in journals, reading, why I write | Tagged | 7 Comments

twinkling leaves

Posted on September 15, 2008 by

I hear the rain, and then I don’t.  I look out the window to see the bright green end-of-summer leaves twinkling, like stars, better than stars.  I look to the sky for an explanation.  The drops of rain are carefully … Continue reading →

Posted in catching moments, leaves | Tagged | Leave a comment

playing with books again

Posted on September 14, 2008 by

Last Sunday I was looking through Ellen GIlchrist’s Falling Through Space trying to find the passage where she writes about getting down on the floor to play with her books.  Well, I couldn’t find it, but in the process, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Ellen Gilchrist, writing | Tagged | 2 Comments

specious and torpid

Posted on September 13, 2008 by

I’m a writer.  A writer who hasn’t yet published her novel.  And I had a dream.  Not I have a dream–which of course I do, to publish a novel.  But I had a dream.  In my dream, a literary agent … Continue reading →

Posted in poetry, words, writing | Tagged | 1 Comment

no extra words

Posted on September 12, 2008 by

If you want to see a writer move seamlessly from one scene to the next without any extra words, take a look at this passage from the “Big Bertha Stories” in Bobbie Ann Mason‘s collection, Midnight Magic: Jeannette wanted to stop for … Continue reading →

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September 11th

Posted on September 11, 2008 by

“He said, ‘It still looks like an accident, the first one.  Even from this distance, way outside the thing, how many days later, I’m standing here thinking it’s an accident.’ ‘Because it has to be.’ ‘It has to be,’ he … Continue reading →

Posted in dialogue, Ellen Gilchrist | Tagged , | 3 Comments

two first novels

Posted on September 10, 2008 by

The short list for the Booker Prize was announced yesterday.  Six novels were chosen from the long list of thirteen.  Of the six, two are first novels!  Only one was written by a woman.  Unfortunately, I haven’t yet read any of these.  … Continue reading →

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that moment

Posted on September 9, 2008 by

“A story,” Graham Greene wrote, “has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead.”  The End of the Affair.  The first sentence.  Of course, then there was … Continue reading →

Posted in catching moments, first sentences, movies | Tagged | 2 Comments

the day itself

Posted on September 8, 2008 by

On Monday, February 26, 1951, John Steinbeck wrote, “I don’t understand why some days are wide open and others are closed off, some days smile and others have thin slitted eyes and others still are days which worry.  And it … Continue reading →

Posted in Annie Dillard, journals, novels, schedules, shapes, writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

playing with books

Posted on September 7, 2008 by

This morning I remember Ellen Gilchrist writing about getting down on the floor to play with her books.  I want to find that passage.  With my coffee in one hand, I begin to pull her books off the shelf.  I think … Continue reading →

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