One of the most enjoyable learning experiences that I’ve had was in 2006, when I was in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Hamline University and was asked to to serve as the Assistant Editor of the Water~Stone Review. The cover image of Volume 8 was taken by Karolina Karlic, an arresting photograph that tells a story without words. For this edition, called Light Keepers, I also had the opportunity to interview Pete Hautman, whose novel for young adults, Godless, had just won the National Book Award.

On Day 10 of National Novel Writing Month, I was pleased that the 1,632 words that I wrote today were more “showing” than “telling.” More scene, less exposition. This brought to mind something that Pete had said during our interview: “When I’m writing a scene, and this varies a lot from scene to scene, I’ll see it as a series of static images. It’ not like I’m watching a movie reel out of my head, and it’s not like I’m listening to an audio presentation. My writing is not real sound-oriented; it’s more about presenting mental images boxed. The first thing I ever wrote was a comic book in seventh grade. That’s one of the reasons there’s been so much interest in my books by filmmakers … because when the filmmakers read my books, they can see how this could become a script. The story is laid out in specific scenes, usually around a particular image. To create an image in a reader’s mind is an incredibly magical thing to do.”

It’s hard to believe that I’m 1/3 of the way through National Novel Writing Month. Ten days down, twenty to go …

P.S. I’ve moved my early morning writing time to our living room, where the first thing I do is turn on the gas fireplace. I’ve decided that my attic-level writing space is freezing my brain. Plus, the living room is closer to the coffee machine!

#NaNoWriMo18