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| What's Behind the Closet Door? |
Whenever I read a good story, I immediately wonder where the author got the idea. What was it that led them to craft fiction around a topic? Was it a personal experience or did someone else plant the idea in their brain? Can you imagine if you were a friend of
Samuel Clemens and he took a conversation you might have had together to write a story? You would have been thrilled and bragged that you helped bring it to life.
However, no writer is well known when they just start writing, at least usually. I read a short story recently called
"The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson. It was a dark tale that dealt with the ugly side of what could have been a small New England town. The reaction was severe mostly because the
New Yorker published it. So many people were offended that she would cast a dark shadow on pretty New England towns. Jackson wrote it well and the story draws you in even as you realize something is not right. Hundreds of people protested in writing and even cancelled their subscription to the newspaper while the story was banned in the
Union of South Africa. The notoriety of the tale made her famous even though she had already been writing for years. Later, schools adapted it as part of their writing curriculum.
It seems the dark skeletons in our closets attract a certain amount of curiosity. It's the happenings of stuff under the cloak of respectability that peak attention, especially when it is under the seeming whiteness of religion or important institutions. It's the "How Could You?" attitude. Look at the news hubbub around
Oscar Pistorius - an Olympic athlete, triumphant survivor and ...murderer?
Personally, I tend to stay away from darker humors even going to far as refusing to read the works of
Poe as a child. Then I found him depressing but now realize that he actually was an amazing writer. I like writers that found ways to escape from the darker side of society - tales of Tom Sawyer living free from the tyranny and unreasonableness of his religious aunt. I loved
Two Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the freedom Captain Nemo had to explore away from the political war scene at the time.
One of my ongoing lessons in life is learning that we as humans are actually flawed and in spite of the fact that we all do shameful things, most people are still very kind and understanding.
Enough of my rambling. What do you find interesting?
.jpg "Sungold Raspberries Closeup Photograph")
I have been told many times by editors not to overuse adjectives. Why? Adjectives are used to embellish nouns so why would using them be wrong? Well, if writers would use them like pepper so that they just accent the content, that would be one thing, but we don't. Today, I was watching a cooking show on the Food Network and realized that so many of the cooks describe their finished product with exaggerated adjectives, just because we can't taste or smell what they just finished. Can it be that everything is, "Oh My God, soooooo delish," as they stuff it into their mouths? I think not. I can just imagine the cooks spitting out the food as soon as the camera is off because it was too salty, or sweet.
This is just a little update to let you know this weekend several of my short stories are available on Amazon for FREE!!!! Just type in Heide Braley in the Kindle section and scroll down for the free ones.
