Dec 15, 2023·edited Dec 15, 2023Liked by Kathy Fish
"The swing carries you, arching towards the sky, like Apollo's chariot on a bright, clear day. You swing your legs and arch your back, whooping like today will last forever and ever and ever. That was five years ago. Now, I push the swing alone and watch as its seat, once arched with your weight, returns to me empty."
Kathy, I only discovered your newsletter a few weeks ago, but the advice you share on here is already impacting the way I approach short story writing in invaluable ways. I've encountered a lot of Youtube channels and blogs that offer writing advice on big-picture elements like character, story structure, etc. but not many on sentence-level mechanics. As a short story writer, I find the advice you offer on this topic invaluable.
Anyways, thanks for this prompt! I had a blast trying out this repetition technique. :)
Wow! This along with the art took my breath away and I had to run to catch it. As I ran, I felt your words running after me. I cut a corner and found my breath lying there on a heap of trash.
Can you find a distinction between “repetition” as you describe it here, and “choruses” as Gordon Lish and Tom Spanbauer teach?
They seem similar, but maybe choruses mark time differently?
Chuck Palahniuk uses choruses as scene breaks sometimes like in his novel Invisible Monsters (”Sorry Mom. Sorry God”), or Fight Club (”The first rule of Fight Club…”)
In the movie All That Jazz we see the main character Bob Fosse (Rob Schneider) run through an identical morning routine ending with “It’s showtime!” in front of his bathroom mirror…
Fosse’s repetition marks time and reveals character while doing so.
THIS is exactly what I most love about SUBSTACK. Embedded jewels. Everywhere. Mostly GENEROUSLY shared. At most, $pennies a day.
Fodder - of value, regularly offered by the generous in spirit create; for the also generous in spirit and with an eye for abundance, to regularly share.
Bravo! This piece goes beyond just qualifying. Thank you for embellishing our month!
"The swing carries you, arching towards the sky, like Apollo's chariot on a bright, clear day. You swing your legs and arch your back, whooping like today will last forever and ever and ever. That was five years ago. Now, I push the swing alone and watch as its seat, once arched with your weight, returns to me empty."
Kathy, I only discovered your newsletter a few weeks ago, but the advice you share on here is already impacting the way I approach short story writing in invaluable ways. I've encountered a lot of Youtube channels and blogs that offer writing advice on big-picture elements like character, story structure, etc. but not many on sentence-level mechanics. As a short story writer, I find the advice you offer on this topic invaluable.
Anyways, thanks for this prompt! I had a blast trying out this repetition technique. :)
Wow! This along with the art took my breath away and I had to run to catch it. As I ran, I felt your words running after me. I cut a corner and found my breath lying there on a heap of trash.
this was a wonderful essay and great prompt, thank you for your work!
Dali is one of my favorite artist.
Really great, Kathy
Thank you ☺️
Can you find a distinction between “repetition” as you describe it here, and “choruses” as Gordon Lish and Tom Spanbauer teach?
They seem similar, but maybe choruses mark time differently?
Chuck Palahniuk uses choruses as scene breaks sometimes like in his novel Invisible Monsters (”Sorry Mom. Sorry God”), or Fight Club (”The first rule of Fight Club…”)
In the movie All That Jazz we see the main character Bob Fosse (Rob Schneider) run through an identical morning routine ending with “It’s showtime!” in front of his bathroom mirror…
Fosse’s repetition marks time and reveals character while doing so.
What do you think?
Love your work.
Thanks again 🙏🏼
THIS is exactly what I most love about SUBSTACK. Embedded jewels. Everywhere. Mostly GENEROUSLY shared. At most, $pennies a day.
Fodder - of value, regularly offered by the generous in spirit create; for the also generous in spirit and with an eye for abundance, to regularly share.
Bravo! This piece goes beyond just qualifying. Thank you for embellishing our month!
SherryTX