The First One to Speak Loses

Epigraph is from one of my favorite books.

What we, or at any rate what I, refer to confidently as memory—meaning a moment, a scene, a fact that has been subjected to a fixative and thereby rescued from oblivion—is really a form of storytelling that goes on continually in the mind and often changes with the telling. Too many conflicting emotional interests are involved for life ever to be wholly acceptable, and possibly it is the work of the storyteller to rearrange things so that they conform to this end. In any case, in talking about the past we lie with every breath we draw.

—William Maxwell, So Long, See You Tomorrow

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Day Five: July 6, 2013

All this fresh air makes me hungry. Thank goodness for my Nutri Bullet. Although I have a full kitchen no cooking here. Healthy uncooked food, except a rotisserie chicken to throw in salads. Fresh greens, fruit, protein powder and coconut milk. Who needs a fancy kitchen?


So with all this power food here's what I did today: Finished rearranging Chapter Eight. This was structural and somewhat done using cut & paste. Arduously tore apart Chapter Nine, and this afternoon and tonight revisited the last chapter, Chapter Ten. I'm still not happy with Nine, although Eight and Ten are improved. Tomorrow I'm considering printing out the entire manuscript and reading it straight through, making notes along the way.

Squeezed in more reading, which I do at all hours on the back porch. Started the day with Story by Robert McKee. Although it is about screenwriting much of the content is applicable to fiction. Regarding the elements of story McKee says: "A beautifully told story is a symphonic unity in which structure, character, genre and idea meld seamlessly. To find their harmony, the writer must study the elements of story as if they were instruments of an orchestra--first separately, then in concert" (29).


Reread a William Trevor story, "Cheating at Canasta." Studying Trevor is better than going to grad school for an MFA.


Here's what Dorland Mountain looks like "After Sunset."




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