I slept later than I expected on Tuesday, July 23. It was nearly 9 a.m. when I finally came to my senses and got up. Breakfast up at the lodge was at 8 a.m., so I was happy that I had bought Cheerios and soy milk last night.
As I ate breakfast, poetry came bursting out of me. I wrote a new poem called “Grandfathers,” and I rewrote “Voices of the Blue Ridge” yet again. I think I may have it this time.
Then, between 10 and 12, I worked on
Chapter 18 of The Elements of Academic Writing, about parts of speech.
After lunch, we three
artists-in-residence got together and made a Wal-Mart run. What with chatting
and getting to know each other, most of the afternoon slipped away. Dinner at
the dining hall was good as usual, and we had some more good conversations. Jan
(the young artist) and I talked about the “story arc.” I mentioned that it was
the main theme of the writers conference I attended here two weeks ago.
For a story to keep a reader’s interest,
it must have characters we care about, a source of conflict or struggle, a
dramatic climax in which the conflict is resolved, and a conclusion that leaves
the reader feeling like change has occurred.
Perhaps I should look over each of the
stories in my memoir and see if they each have that. Also, perhaps I should look
at whether the whole book, taken as one piece, maintains that story arc.
No comments:
Post a Comment