Michelle Wittle on a Short Story About Nothing?

Some say a story that is devoid of the four basic elements of the short story can’t be considered a story. Also, some say that if a short story doesn’t have one of the four basic plot outlines, it can’t be a short story. I say both arguments are wrong.

Two women are sitting at a park. They are talking about their life. They get up and leave.

I think the above words are a short story.

While it is true, it is certainly short; I feel it honestly be considered a work of fiction.

With some added details about the characters and perhaps what they were discussing, I think this could very well indeed become a sustainable short story. However, others would disagree and say because the story doesn’t follow a traditional story arch; it isn’t a story at all.

However, look at Seinfeld. The TV show was based on the premise it was a show about nothing. I disagree completely with that theory. The show was about a group of characters and how they interacted with each other and the world. What are the four basic plots? Remember, man vs. society, man vs. nature, man vs. God, and man vs. self?  In just the description of the show, there is man vs man and man vs society.

Let’s not forget that TV shows have become an influential part of how writers write. Look at all the chick lit that has been published in the past few years. Would chick lit be as popular if it weren’t for Sex in the Cityand other shows just like it? So is it any wonder why these short stories about nothing continually keep popping up?

In the case of the short story about nothing, if we could spend ten years watching a show about “nothing”, we can read a short story about “nothing.”

I still want to argue the point that a short story that doesn’t have the four basic elements (setting, plot, character, and theme) can’t be considered a short story.

Look again at my story in the beginning of the blog. Are characters in the story? Is there a setting? Is there some resolution? The only thing my story doesn’t have is a conflict. However, if I were to go in and flesh out the dialogue, I bet there will be a conflict. Most likely it would be a conflict of man vs self, but without having the dialogue it is hard to say with certainty the conflict.

I think the four elements of a story and the four basic conflicts are so ingrained in our minds, we can’t help but write them in. If a well developed picture of a person or two people talking is presented, the basic elements will be there.

Can we have a story about nothing? I don’t think it is possible to have a story about nothing. Even if it is just a simple conversation or a person just looking at a chair, thoughts are happening. Something is happening. In that something, a conflict will come along and a conclusion will surface. How many conversations have you had with people about nothing, yet you still came away from that conversation with something?

It is human nature to want to give things meaning. We have to find the connections. As writers, we connect things all the time. Sometimes it happens so naturally, we don’t know we did the connections until someone else reads our piece and points it out.

In conclusion, every story, either spoken or written, is about something. Therefore, there is no such thing as a story about nothing.

 

Michelle Wittle On Inspiration

At last year’s Philadelphia Book Festival, I was one of the many people treated to hearing Joyce Carol Oates read from her then current book of stories called, Dear Husband. As she was setting up the story for the audience, Oates mentioned how she reads the morning paper every day. In her readings, she came across the newspaper article about the woman who killed her children and then herself. Her story “Dear Husband” was the wife’s letter to her husband before she killed herself. It was, as with most of Oates’ material, a very raw and haunting piece.

I never thought about the power of reading newspaper articles until now.

With my blog (www.mwittle.wordpress.com) I have been noticing a very nice trend. Because I have been living on the New York Times webpage, my blogs are becoming more and more viewed. I am taking the time every day (truth be told, it’s more like an hour or so a day, depending on how things are moving) to search through the Times and look for articles that appeal to me. I read the articles and then I post my opinion on them.

But the Times aren’t just helping with my blog; it is also helping me with my writing.

I notice my writing becoming different. My writing voice is sharper. Also, as I read these articles, I can start to see how the articles can turn into a story.

I am finding new inspiration in newspaper articles. I am taking the old, washed up stories in my head and giving them a different spin. I am looking at the world and changing it the way I think it should be changed.

  Sometimes a news article is so bizarre it can’t be made up.

If you find yourself in a writing slump (which I have been in for a pretty long time now) I suggest these two basic things.

One: Pick a newspaper and start looking through it. Find articles that you like and hold on to them. Practice writing what you think happened before or after the article you read. Look at the person the article is reporting on and try to get inside his or her mind.

Two: Change your reading habits. My mother used to say “you are what you eat” and I like to just twist that statement a bit to “you are what you read”. For a while I was reading a lot of poorly written novels. I read them because the books were easy to get through, but my writing suffered. Now I am reading novelists I admire again and I am seeing my writing improve.

The only way to become a better writer is to practice it. Practice is not only writing but also reading and opening up your reading world.

 

Michelle Wittle On a Writer’s Room

In the novel, The World According to Garp, Garp talks about the library across from his apartment in Vienna having a writer’s room. It wasn’t much of a room really. It had a dark wooden desk and a chair. The room had a lamp and a door to shut the writer in and keep the writer’s mind focused. The room was used by a then popular poet who Garp’s reads and defines the poet as utter rubbish.

What appeals to me is the idea of a library having a writer’s room.

How do you get a writer’s room? Do you just walk into a library and explain you need one? Is it the like room of requirement in the Harry Potter books? For me, I would need to have a room with no internet access, seconds away from a bathroom, and sound proof. Is that asking too much?

I had a friend who had access to a writer’s room. I wasn’t so taken with the idea then, so I regrettably didn’t ask more about the room. I just heard my friend say she used one in a library and had a key to it and everything.

Writer’s rooms have keys?

I need to get a writer’s room.

I need another key for my key ring!

Let’s face it, writing isn’t a hobby. Writing is a job… that I openly admit to despising more than I hate liars. So, doesn’t it make sense I should have an “office” somewhere?

I have a lot of trouble writing at home. I have the wireless internet. My cat likes to sit on my lap and sometimes across my neck which makes writing very difficult. There is always a chore I think I should be doing instead of writing. There are pop tarts that need to be eaten and chips who want to be dipped in sour cream.

I can’t work from home.

I could go to a bookstore, but that starts to wear on me after a while. Some little bratty kid will come in screaming he wants a cookie while his clueless mom asks about the freshness of the coffee. Or some dude picks up his cell phone and has a twenty minute discussion on the pros and cons of seeing a movie.

I need a little section all to myself where I could just tap away on my computer and create.

I need there to be no more excuses.

I need a writer’s room.

 

Michelle Wittle On the Numbers Game

It is 11 am.  I woke up at 10am. As I was dusting the dream about kids not listening to me once again from my mind, I started getting all these ideas and numbers started floating in my head.

I notice I am the type of writer who can only work on short deadlines. If you tell me I have a few months to get something done, I will do everything but work on it for the first few months leaving myself just about two weeks to complete the job. I often will wonder what I did that was so important I couldn’t get the task done sooner. Then I remember all the twitter updates. I start recalling all the quizzes I took on face book (because I just needed to know what teacher from Hogwarts I was(Dumbledore) and what Sex in the City character I lived my life like (Carrie)). I waste time because I do. It’s not that I am unmotivated. I just know I can do it later (but those quizzes…no I have to take those right away).

Imagine my surprise when I woke up today with a list of things I already wanted to do.

I have two short story ideas in my head (left over from last night because I refused to get out of bed and start writing them). I also know there is one publication I want to get published by and the deadline in November 15^th. As I see it, I will take four stories, sharpen them all up. Once I get the best one, I will find 10 places I wouldn’t mind being published in and off that story will go. Each story will follow that pattern. In doing the math, by November 15^th I should have 40 places reading my work.

Then, I started thinking; I should really focus on that book idea.

The number 10 pops in my head again. Some outside yet inside voice says, “get ten literary agents and send a query letter and a sample”. I say, “why of course that sounds like a perfect idea.”

I know this seems like a lot to have one’s plate. I am sure I will only get maybe two short stories out to a few places. But here is the real reason behind my ambitious plan.

If I have no plan, I will sit on the computer watching cats do dumb things on YouTube. I will spend hours taking those nonsense-ical quizzes on face book. This will all add up to my utter complaint that I am not published. I am sick of blaming myself.

So now it’s time to blame others.

 

Michelle Wittle On MFA-ing

In a passing conversation, I mentioned once to a family member I thought I would like to go to grad school for Creative Writing. My family member almost got whiplash turning around to face me and said that creative writing can’t be taught and it would be a complete waste of money.

Whether this was just her opinion or the opinion that had been drilled in her since birth, I will never know. But I will tell you that I firmly agree and disagree with this statement. On the one hand I agree that raw talent can not be taught. However, I do agree that raw talent can be sharpened and refined.

I think we need to look away from the narrow view of a grad student just creatively writing all day long. I am assured that is not all one does in grad school.

Last night I gained another perceptive on the MFA conundrum and I would like to share it with you now.

But of course I have to give you a small back story (because it wouldn’t be a Michelle Wittle blog if there wasn’t at least one small anecdote).

It’s a known fact I have been a struggling writing. I can’t even pay someone to publish my fiction works. Most of the time it is due to my lack of effort. But, I am now learning a bit more about my writing self and my flaws.

Here’s the secret.

I have no idea what I am writing.

I will sit down with my Mac (or now George) and I will just fill words on a blank word screen. It sounds like it is a short story to me, so I pimp it out as one.

The truth is, the story is more of a flash fiction piece or perhaps the start of a novel.

Since I have no idea what I wrote, I can’t send it to the right places. For that small blunder, I get rejected and sadden ensues.

Now, in comes the grad school part.

My friend was relating a story to me about how when she signed up for grad school, she was almost positive she wanted to seek this one avenue of her art. However, as she is approaching her graduation and after being exposed to many different and unthinkable avenues of her medium, she realizes now more than ever she wants to pursue this different street.

That is what grad school is for. You get to meet people who are your peers (and I don’t mean age wise but creative medium wise). In grad school, you will make connections with professors and people in your field. You can get internships. Lastly, you will be exposed to all different types of genres and avenues of your art. Maybe you thought you wanted to be a novelist. But after being in the class, you realize you are more of a poet. School is the time for exploration and learning who you are and where your place is in your field.

While it is true, raw talent can’t be taught, in every art there are always more than one way to find your place in the field. Look at grad school as the place you get to dance around in all the aspects of your art. You get to try on different hats and then you can find the one that fits you the best.

So, to MFA or not to MFA that may always be the question, but I think the answer should be, “is it a learning experience you can afford to miss?”

 

Michelle Wittle On Narrowing Down the Right Story

For the past couple of months, I have been having a very difficult time trying to focus on what I should be writing about. On day I want to research ghost stories. The next day I think I should be reworking my novel. Two days later I think I should be working on a memoir. I am literally all over the place and because of the scattering, nothing is getting done.

When I get like this, I start reading books. It gives me a sense of accomplishment when I finish the book and, who knows, maybe I will finally be completely inspired.

A friend of mine suggested I read “The World According to Garp” by John Irving. Because it deals with a budding writer looking for his literary place, my friend thought this book would help me settle into my writer self.

So far, I have only read six of the nineteen chapters and I have to tell you, my friend is absolutely right. This book is really amazing.

I just finished reading this one chapter called, “In the City Where Marcus Aurelius Died” and if I were teaching a college level creative writing class, I would make sure this chapter was in the mix somewhere.

The whole novel is about Garp and his mother. In this chapter, he just graduated from high school and she decides to move them both to Vienna. She wants to become a writer as does her son. They are both struggling through the first writer’s attempt at writing. She has a six hundred page manuscript that is boring and devoid of any real story telling. Garp can’t figure out what he wants to write about, so his coping skill is to explore the city. In the library across from their apartment, there is a writer’s room. It belonged to a 19th century poet who, in Garp’s mind, was a horrific poet. Because Garp can see how horrible this poet was, it helps him get inspired to become a better writer. This discovery acts as his inspiration.

Garp writes a very detailed and interesting story. However at the end of the chapter, he has no idea how to end the story. He knows that somehow something must happen and things should be connected; yet, he has no idea what should happen and what he should connect.

I love how in the chapter there are two people both in the early stages of writing. Each person is trying to find his or her voice and how to make his or her story worth reading. Both struggle with character development and plot.

Also, I like how Garp is able to look at published authors mentioned in this chapter and evaluate for himself their literary merits. Garp is picking and choosing what kind of author he wants to be by finding what works and doesn’t work in these previously published pieces.

Am I inspired yet to write my story (which ever one it may be)?

Not yet, but I am inspired to continue reading this “manual for writers” because just like Garp, I can pick out the things I like and toss out the things that don’t work for me.

As I continue with this novel, I will keep you updated on my findings. If you are like me, a lost story teller with too many stories to tell, I suggest a small break is in order for you. Wander down to your local bookstore, pick up “The World According to Garp” and let Garp guide you on your road to writer discovery.

 

Michelle Wittle On the Human Element

In a world in which news can reach us in a matter of mere seconds after it has occurred, I feel like we are missing out on the human element. When was the last time you honestly had a phone conversation with someone that lasted more than a minute?  Better yet, when was the last time you got a letter in the mail from a friend? With the Internet and email, we don’t need to rely on the post office or old Mr. Bell’s invention to send news quickly to one another. In a click, our baby’s new pictures or a web video of his or her first words can be sent. Our handy phones can do all the talking for us. Just the other day I was scrolling through my text messaging templates and I saw one that said, “I love you”. Now I don’t even have to take the extra five seconds it would take for me to type the words; I could just click a button or two and my message would be sent.

That knowledge makes me sick. How important do I think my life is that I can’t stop for a few seconds and text a loved one those words?

Furthermore, why couldn’t I just call and leave a message? Why do I have to text at all?

In a blog I wrote called, “Saving the Post Office One Post card at a Time” http://mwittle.wordpress.com/2009/08/08/saving-the-post-office-one-post-card-at-a-time/,  I discussed the importance of the post office and also the importance of getting personal mail. But I think with this blog, I need to take it one step more.

I fear we are becoming more and more dependent on machines to hold our memories and our most treasured items. For that, we need to be ashamed.

Computers crash and phones die. But what does last is the written word.

I can tell you that some of my most precious items are cards and letters I have gotten over time. One card that comes to my mind as I write this blog is one I got for my birthday a few years ago. On it was a purple stick figure of me and it said on the front, “Happy birthday to (there was then an arrow pointing to the purple stick figure)”. Inside the card held many of our private jokes that I could explain to you but it wouldn’t make sense and you would be bored, so I will spare you all of that.  But the reason I love this card so much is because it was created just for me by the giver. Hallmark couldn’t have created a better card.

The words that come from the heart mean the most. While it is true you can pour your heart and soul in an email, it doesn’t really have the full power you could get from writing it in your own hand.

So, I ask you all to consider this final thought. When you have something very personal to say to someone else, find the human element that works best for you. Some might want to talk on the phone, while others (myself included) may need to write the words out on paper. Send it off in the mail or hand it to the person; but make sure you take the time to give that extra human touch. Trust me, when that person needs you the most, all they will need to do is take out that letter or recall your voice. It will help far more than an email  or a text message.

 

Michelle Wittle On Newspapers?

What was once black and white and read all over seems to becoming a dying publishing form. As reported in February of this year, The Philadelphia Inquirer has gone bankrupted. This newspaper was once the biggest source of news for the Delaware Valley and even they are having problems paying their bills.

But I question why this would be happening?

I won’t speak on the economy or anything like that because while I do think it has something to do with the decay of newspaper; I think there is a bigger issue that we are missing.

Is it possible that we don’t need newspapers anymore?

All the up to the minute news can be accessed by our cell phones now. I learned that Michael Jackson died by going on a social networking site and not from the newspaper. Look at the help wanted ads. I don’t think they are so empty because there aren’t jobs; I think it is just cheaper to list online then pay to have it printed in the newspaper. I also just read an on line article that said newspapers are going to stop printing the movie times in the Arts and Entertainment section because people can not only get their movie time on their phones or the Internet, but they can buy their tickets from the same source as well.  Book reviews are all on line. Everything we once used a newspaper for is just a click away.

As a writer, this fact saddens me greatly.

I am all for saving trees. However, when I travel, I like to get the local newspaper and see what is going on. Some of my favorite memories from my travels are when I was grabbing the local paper, sitting in a café or a diner drinking tea and reading the local news.

I don’t want to take the time to sit on the Internet trying to find local news. I want to be out in the community and supporting them by purchasing their wares.

Also, I hate the Internet. It’s too big and I can never find what I am looking for. I hate wasting time scrolling through pages and pages of things generated by a search engine. In that respect, I am very old fashioned.

So then, what do we do with our failing newspapers? Are they something that is so archaic that we need to get rid of? If we do, then what is the next writing publication to go?

My mother used to say that you never know what you have until it is gone. Maybe all we need is to revamp our idea of a newspaper and what information it should give us on a daily basis. I think we can all agree there is something almost Zen-like about getting the morning newspaper, having your breakfast and just taking some time to read and relax before the business of the day begins. In this extremely go-go world, we need to find those small moments…those pockets of time…that we get to just stop and breathe.  Who wants to be hunched over the computer eating eggs and drinking coffee just to get the daily news?

 

Michelle Wittle On the First Rule in Writing

Everything that you love in your story, throw it out. If you love this one character…get rid of that character. If you love the setting…change it.

I know you are thinking ”what”? Here me out on this theory of story destruction.

I have this novel sitting in my computer for the past three years. I tried a few times to get it published, but it was always denied. I just thought it was because I was sending it to the wrong places. However, I now think it was because I wrote the wrong book.

I have so many things in the book that I love. I also let others read it and they loved what was written as well. Therefore I got lazy and just thought my novel was more then good enough because these two people loved what they read.

But my novel isn’t the best it can be and I know that now. All the things I love in the book blind me and I can’t make the book any better because I don’t want to let all those things go.

I have to let those things go. The book isn’t as powerful as it needs to be and that is horrible. My main character is a shadow of who she needs to be because I am so in love with the other characters I have in the book. She should be my main focus and yet I am letting her suffer. Also, the message in the book is the same message in all books just like it. My book is bringing nothing new. It has no new spin.

So, now I am at a serious cross roads. Do I throw out all that I have written and start over or do I try to fix all the “broken pieces”?

In creating that book, I lost what my main focus was in writing the book. I let all those things I love dilute my purpose.

I am going to take the basic things from my book and rewrite it. The things I love will not be present in this new edition. I will keep my focus of my novel.

In my book I made a lot of rookie errors. However, I think the biggest one I made was allowing the things I love take front stage to my real purpose.

When you love something in your writing, take it out. You may be able to put them back in later…but right now…in its early stages…you have to just let it go.

What is that saying if you love something, set it free? If it comes back to you, it was meant to be.

The same thing goes for your writing.

 

Michelle Wittle On Hating Being a Writer

I hate being a writer. I know I am not the first person to admit to this, but I think I should explain where this hate comes from.

I have already explained that writing is like a bloodbath. One minute, I am just sitting there looking at a blank word document. The next minute that I can say I am conscious of, there are two hundred pages in a document written. There are about twenty-fours empty cans of coke Zero scattered at my feet. Yoda has that smug look on his face. On my left are about a dozen or so wrappers of various things I must have consumed, yet I have no recollection of eating them or even buying them. Did I leave the house? I can’t say that I know for sure. It is three days later and I haven’t showered. My cat is even put off by me.

Does this sound like fun? Is this something anyone in his or her right mind would want to sign up for? I know that all writers aren’t like this. Some writers hold down jobs and commit only a few hours a day to their latest creative endeavors.

I am not like that.

I wish I could be someone who goes to work and when I come home, my job is just waiting back at the office. I want to clock in and out. I want to have a time sheet and only work a certain amount of hours a week.

But writing for me isn’t like that. I get woken up at 2am (it is always 2am and I have a theory on why…but not for this blog) and I can’t go back to sleep. My characters are dancing around telling me what comes next. Sometimes I don’t even get to sleep at all.

This isn’t fun or pretty. I hate being a writer because sometimes I can’t get it to stop. I can’t turn off my mind. I am not sitting at my beachfront house, looking at my computer and writing my “little stories” as the tide ebbs and flows.

I hate being a writer because sometimes I don’t want to write. How long has it been since I have updated this blog on a regular basis? So, because of all of that procrastination, I get to suffer the wrath of my creative self. I don’t get to sleep anymore. My stories have piled up and like that full cup of water, they are all running out.

I hate being a writer because I have no choice. Everyone else gets to choose his or her career, yet why can’t I? No, I can’t go out and play today because I have to sit down and write. If I don’t write, I will just have to pay for it later.

I hate being a writer because no one but another writer can fully understand what this is like. There is no glamour in this job. It isn’t all book signing and wine parties. We writers don’t all sit around discussing latest trends in the book business. Most of our time is spent with our characters and if we are lucky maybe a pet. The time we spend with people verses the time we spend writing is never equal. It is lonely being a writer.

That’s why I hate being a writer.