Entry # 151 - "Hello Story!"

Photo Credit - Alex Dunn - April 2013

First Lines deserve special attention, particularly in a short story.  Openings can draw readers in to know more, or if poorly constructed, cause readers to move on to something more interesting to read. Good first lines show movement, tension and people with lives unfolding on the page. Opening lines introduce readers to the set up and give a glimpse of potential trouble.  First lines shape expectations and hold the reader who wants to know more. It's important to make a first and lasting impression in opening lines.

Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - May 2012

Writers can benefit from close readings of good solid openings that promise and deliver an interesting story. Here are some first lines and opening paragraphs from the first five stories in - The Best American Short Stories of 2012, edited by Tom Perrotta.   

“ALL RIGHT. HERE we go.

Darlyn teeters high on a swayback wooden ladder she has dragged in from her mother’s garage. From here she can reach around blindly on top of the kitchen cabinets. She has struck pay dirt – a tidy arrangement of small, flat bottles. She doesn’t have to look to know they will all be pints of Five O’Clock Vodka.” -- “The Last Speaker of the Language” by Carol Anshaw from New Ohio Review.

"By Thursday I still hadn’t said word one about the accident. My roommate Rand would be the guy, and this would be the moment: he and I sitting on our narrow balcony, legs shot through the railings, nighttime, glittery San Francisco laid out below us, September 22, 1999. “Know what Hardar Jumpiche says about giving away good feelings?” he asked.” --“Pilgrim Life” by Taylor Antrim from American Short Fiction.

“THEY’RE IN OUR HOUSE maybe ten minutes and already Mark’s lecturing us on the Israeli occupation. Mark and Lauren live in Jerusalem, and people from there think it gives them the right.” -- “What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank” by Nathan Englander from The New Yorker.

“MY SON, DOUGLAS, loves to play with toy guns. He is thirteen. He loves video games in which people get killed. He loves violence on TV, especially if it’s funny. How did this happen? The way everything does, of course. One thing follows another, naturally.”-- “The Other Place” by Mary Gaitskill from The New Yorker.

“I HAVE MOVED to the edge of the world for two years. If I am not careful, I will fall. After my first department meeting, my new colleagues encourage me to join them on a scenic cruise to meet more locals. The Peninsular Star will travel through the Portage Canal, up to Copper Harbor, and then out onto Lake Superior. I am handed a glossy brochure with bright pictures of blue skies and calm lake waters. “You’ll be able to enjoy the foliage,” they tell me, shining with enthusiasm for the Upper Peninsula. “Do you know how to swim?” they ask.

 -- “North Country” by Roxane Gay from Hobart.

These stories are typical of excellent stories. They promise much in the opening and they deliver a thought-provoking experience for readers.  Doesn't looking at these openings cause you, as a reader and perhaps - as a writer, to want to run right out and get a copy of the collection? 

Don't you want to know more? 

Brief Bio

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Another story won the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, and her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, Pen/O’Henry Awards and a recent story was a finalist in Phoebe Fiction Contest and another in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or   visit blog:  http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 150 - "Reading Other Writers' Work"

Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - Pacific Ocean - April 2013

June 5^th I am off to the 2013 Gettysburg Review Writers Conference again this year and looking forward to another class with Lee K. Abbott. Yesterday I received a packet of ten stories (20-25 pages for most) from writers, whose work (including my own) we will read and perhaps, reread before the workshop discussions. I will take notes about the strengths, as well as areas that might benefit from revision. As I do so – I will appreciate the hard work that was required to produce each story. Writing is hard work, but I love it.

I take my workshop reading responsibilities seriously. I read each story carefully once; then I wait a day or two, to let my inner writer think and process the heart of a story.  After the second reading I write a brief (three sentence) summary of the “aboutness” of the story. Finally, I make a list of strong elements in the work itself, focusing upon the story, not the specific writer, and list areas where I (as a reader) need more clarity. 

I always appreciate workshops in which participants take their reading responsibilities as a sacred opportunity to help other writers. I’ve learned a lot by noticing what writers do well and what they’re still working to improve. I’m there to get additional insights. And to share my own experiences with others, while also noticing that each writer brings different strengths, experiences and needs to the discussion process. Ideally we will all leave with new ways to improve our writing.

These talented writers came to their own stories with some type of inner vision as to the heart of their stories. In the end, each writer must decide what advice from other writers seems to ring true and which advice would ruin their story. Knowing what advice works and what advice to ignore is part of the process. 

Writers go to these conferences with a good story that has the potential to be great. We go in search of an elusive bit of “feedback” that will help us make it better.    

Photo Credit - Jan Bowman - Pacific Storm - April 2013

In her wonderful book, Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive, writer Joni B. Cole defines - feedback – n. (writing): any response to a writer or his (her) work that helps him (her) write more, write better, and be happier.

She says, “Doesn’t that make you want to race out and get some?”

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About Jan Bowman 

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Winner of the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, a Pen/O’Henry award and a recent story was a finalist in the 2013 Phoebe Fiction Contest; another was a 2012 finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction publications in Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or visit blog:  http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com

Entry # 149 - "Making A Life While Writing About It"

In Nancy Willard’s The Left-Handed Story: Writing and the Writer’s Life, Willard says that writers have a calling to live “on the interface of two worlds,” the one that gives us dreams, stories, and imagined worlds, and the one that gives us family, friends, community responsibilities, along with jobs, bank accounts, taxes, other responsibilities.  Writers struggle to find a balance and not everyone we know understands what a person is really saying about their life when they say, “I’m a writer.” Most people don’t know how much dedication; practice and reflection time is required. 

Writers make time for all these competing demands of the writing life, because all of these parts of a writer’s life are essential.  Perhaps writing is a bit like a referee trying to keep a tennis match on track; it's as if each player has decided to play with different rules about boundaries.  And just like people committed to their work in other professions, writers must try to balance it all. Making time in the face of living a full and rich life requires us to find ways to make time for all of it. But - as a friend of mine says, "Don't forget to enjoy the cake."

Over the past few weeks I have limited my usual blog postings and set aside much of my writing time for my family. Several regular readers sent emails to inquire about the absence of postings on my blog. And, yes. That’s a good thing.  But – not to worry!  I have returned after a three-week vacation to CA and HI and enjoyed every minute of it. It was – in fact – a honeymoon before my wedding. I used the time to read, reflect and spend time with my partner of 33 years. And on Saturday, May 11, 2013, my partner and I were able to marry. It was a tender and beautiful wedding celebration that formally united, our families and dear friends, as well as our community where we have lived for more than thirty years.

I hesitated about whether to address this deeply personal aspect of my life in my writer's blog, but it is a part of who I am, and while this is not all that I am,  living as I have, has formed me in many ways.  I am fortunate to live in Maryland where voters supported the Marriage Equity Law that enabled this celebration of life with my dear Jeanne.  And I appreciate the dedication and work of all the people who supported equity.

[Special Thanks to our dear neighbor, Christina Malone for these early photos - the professional photographers should have theirs ready in a couple of weeks. But we couldn't wait to share.]

I want to acknowledge this joyful moment that helps me value the positive effects of making time for loved ones, friends and community, in order to have a richer more balanced life. I am a better person and writer for having all these loving and supportive connections in my life. It seems to me that the truest writing comes from living fully, loving joyfully, and giving time for life’s immediate experiences.  And while I write not only from what I know, I must also write beyond that place, while acknowledging the importance of finding a balance for a well-lived life.

Brief Bio

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Another story won the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, and her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, Pen/O’Henry Awards and a story was a finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. 
Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or visit blog: http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com