From the archives: Writing with Courage and Conviction

to the unvarnished, uncluttered, undiluted truth

Photo by Jason Rosewell on Unsplash

“There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” ~Toni Morrison

Hi friends,

I hope your new year is off to a great start! I pulled this newsletter from the archives in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It first ran when I had far fewer subscribers! First, a few announcements:

• There are still a few spots available in my upcoming LIVE (Webex) "3 in 90" workshop, "Achieving Dreamlike Prose" on Saturday, January 20th from 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Eastern Time, U.S. You may get more information and register using THIS LINK.  These are a lot of fun and I'd love for you to join us!

• I’ll be announcing a NEW round of workshops and 3 in 90s later this month. Stay tuned!

• I’ll be running my first ever Flash Immersion Extravaganza in February for paid subscribers right here on this very page! Consider upgrading if you’ve not already. This will be a highly interactive and fun month of readings, prompts, games, etc.

• With considerable help from the community (thank you!) I have compiled this Big List of Writers Who Provide Editing and/or Mentoring Services. Please leave a comment if you’d like to be added or can recommend someone!

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I find myself thinking more and more about courage and how we writers must write with power and conviction. Now more than ever, it's important to say what we mean and mean what we say. We must bring authenticity to our work. Commit to what we're here to express. This is what gains our reader's trust and keeps them reading. Writing with conviction forces us to weigh the importance of our words and makes us better thinkers, if not better humans. 

This is absolutely something to strive for in all communication, including fiction.

Conviction, whether in speech or writing, is both compelling and emotionally engaging. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "I have a dream." Not, "I'm kind of hoping for some things." 

Gwendolyn Brooks said: 

I am tired of little tight-faced poets sitting down to

shape perfect unimportant pieces.

Poems that cough lightly — catch back a sneeze.

This is the time for Big Poems,

roaring up out of sleaze,

poems from ice, from vomit, and from tainted blood.

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Annie Dillard, in “Write Till You Drop,” The New York Times, 1989, said: “Write as if you were dying. At the same time, assume you write for an audience consisting solely of terminal patients. What would you begin writing if you knew you would die soon? What could you say to a dying patient that would not enrage by its triviality?”

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Let's not hedge, dilute, qualify, or soften our work. Let's not be wishy-washy. You're writing flash? These are some phrases you can safely cut:

I think

I feel

(I sort of think or feel)

Kind of

That is to say

What I mean is

And while we're at it, let's not "trail off" at the end of our sentences either. Usually things like "because... or "so that... etc. are unnecessary, often explanatory asides that wither, dilute, soften whatever came before them.

(For more on the writing of strong sentences, I highly recommend Several Short Sentences about Writing by Verlyn Klinkenborg and Nina Schuyler’s fabulous newsletter, Stunning Sentences.)

Most important to being a writer is actually having something to say. You may say it with humor, satire, absurdity, realism, lyricism, poetry, fabulism, whatever. But you must say it with conviction.

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YOUR PROMPT

The Flash Monologue

Today and going forward, aim for direct, uncluttered, unvarnished, raw, honest, visceral, imperfect, authentic, in-the-moment writing. Let’s allow our characters to-- once and for all-- speak their own truth. 

Often if we’re stuck on a piece of writing it’s because we’re tamping down some essential voice that is screaming (or whispering urgently) to get out. It’s useful to just allow that character to talk. Imagine a circumstance with some emotional weight and power. 

Now, hand them the microphone, and write a MONOLOGUE. You may quickly set the scene for this monologue, but I want the bulk of your flash to be one person talking to an audience of one or more. They also may be simply expressing their own thoughts. Approach this any way you like. Just give them the floor, the microphone, the podium, a diary, or flashlight around the campfire. Also, consider that a strongly written LETTER works as a monologue as well!

Examples of monologues:

• Your character wants to make a case for something.

• Your character wants to rally the troops against an enemy.

• Your character wants to profess her love (or her hate).

• Your character wants to defend herself.

• Your character has a bone to pick.

• Your character is pleading for forgiveness.

• Your character goes on a rant.

• Your character wants a job.

• Your character has had a revelation.

• Your character is simply telling a fascinating story.

Does this monologue qualify as a story? My three essentials to flash fiction: Emotion, Movement (or meaningful change from beginning to end), and Resonance (the story speaks to something larger or lingers in the reader's heart and mind). How you get there doesn’t much matter as long as you demonstrate these three.

Your monologue may result in a performance piece. It may help to imagine the monologue being spoken by an actor you admire. If your story were made into a film, whom would you cast in the lead role? 

Consider what a powerful tool HUMOR or SATIRE can be when conveying powerful truths.  Consider the role a fresh, original, unique VOICE can play in monologue. 

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You might use 2nd person POV in your flash monologue as Amber Sparks does so magnificently in this piece. (I was lucky enough to hear her read this piece and there was as much conviction in her voice as in her words.):

"Everything is Terrible But You Should Read this Story."

Or consider these three flash fictions, written by Amber Sparks, Ami Rossi, and yours truly, that were adapted for an award winning trio of short films by Brian Mihok. All first person narrations here work as voice overs and are essentially monologues:

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