MUSE MONDAY
Join me in welcoming Mary Eastham to Muse Monday.
Hi everyone. Working on my novella The Girl With Sand in
Her Hair has been a challenge for me since my first two books were
poetry (The Shadow of A Dog I Can’t Forget) and short stories (Squinting
Over Water). My favorite genre is the short line, my term for writing
poetry. I love the nuanced sound of the words when you can choose only a
few, I love how they weave across the page like the splendor in the sky
of the starling’s murmeration, the way they separate then come together
again like dancing lace puppets sprung in fast magic from the heavens,
careful not to leave an imprint. Blink and the starlings are gone.
Whether we’re building a stanza or a scene or creating a chapter’s
ending, hard for me because as a poet I think too much about what the
end of each chapter needs to accomplish and where I need to leave the
reader. I sometimes pretend my character has been thrown into an
emotional interrogation booth and is being asked by a poetic stranger to
‘Tell me your story quickly and in poetic form.’ Here’s an example of
how I used that to end Chapter One from The Girl With Sand In Her Hair
from the point of view of my lead character Pippa Arabella Swann:
We keep crossing paths
Billy Blinker and me
each with our own goals
always something there between us,
maybe even something good.
We just don’t go there…
And
then in contrast using the same ’tell me your story quickly’
philosophy, I created Pippa’s fantasy about Billy which is how I end
Chapter Two:
Cover me in your wet wash
passionate waves
edge of the sky wild
tethered to nothing
in this sunset froth
but your love’s thunder.
Here’s
another example from Lyn Lifshin, a poet’s poet who inspires me every
day to get better and better still at mastering my craft. My mantra for
life and for writing is that we are never done, there’s something out
there every day we can grab and use in our life and in our writing. This
is the opening from her book Ruffian:
Ruffian…her speed outpaced the cougar.
Her grace rivaled the Gazelle. In the long history of horse racing,
she was to be only a moment’s magic.
But she had 'the look of eagles’ which no one could forget.
I
read poet’s work often to inspire me when I’m writing the opening and
ending paragraphs of my stories. If any of you would like to be inspired
in your own work by poetry, here are two sites that feature poet’s work
daily: www.rattle.com & www.poets.org
And now here are just a few random tips from my writing craft file:
I
got this one from Director/Producer David Fincher (Benjamin Button) at a
movie opening party in LA: In the best scenes, everyone is right. I am
still trying to figure this one out and how I can use it to my advantage
in my writing.
Kelly
Ripa talked about learning lines on her show one day and about playing
off her fellow actors as a soap opera star. I use her advice when I’m
having a hard time with dialogue. Says Kelly, 'I say my line then think
b.s. b.s. b.s. b.s. MY LINE, then b.s. b.s. b.s. b.s. MY LINE and then I
let it all fall apart if my fellow actor takes our conversation into a
whole other direction.’ Kelly teaches us all that dialogue doesn’t have
to be perfect from the start. It can surprise us. I love sitting in
cafes listening to people’s conversations. The best story dialogue is
stolen.
Sorry guys, I don’t remember where I saw this but it really does summarize storytelling. Most stories are about:
…People who go
…People who stay
…People who come back.
Now here’s another one:
…Set up the world of your story
…Set up an event that happens
…What’s the change and how does that influence what matters to your character?
I heard this one in a radio interview with singer Rihanna:
Leo
(Leonardo DiCaprio) told me when I’m writing lyrics to avoid
obviousness. That’s what makes you create something that's the
excitement, the thrill.
That’s
my short list. Thanks for having me! Happy Writing and do try to sneak
some fun into every summer afternoon. It goes by so quickly.
Where to find me:
MARY EASTHAM
No comments:
Post a Comment