Carver Inspired Flash
For many of us, Carver was a signal that stories could use minimalism to convey real feelings, resonance. He inspired this idea of every word counting, of using everyday objects to imbue scenes with "reality", with power, with a sense of characters worthy of our time and interest. Other writers have contributed to these ideas, these forms or structures, and some may even deserve more praise or acknowledgment, but we're focusing on Carver and his mastery over the next two weeks.
“It's possible, in a poem or short story, to write about commonplace things and objects using commonplace but precise language, and to endow those things—a chair, a window curtain, a fork, a stone, a woman's earring—with immense, even startling power.”
This is the power of flash. To invite the reader in, make them feel as if they are on-stage with the characters, to make them uneasy, but interested or intrigued to see if the writer can help add a piece of the puzzle to the mystery of our lives. Carver's genius is found in how he balances character, setting, and conflict while his characters long for and fight against isolation in an alienating world.
Hopefully, Carver's stories will provide great examples of this style or form of writing!
Today we're checking out "The Lie (Links to an external site.)." Scroll to page 3 on this pdf to start reading this story!
Often, I don't like stories that start with dialogue. I usually need the context of the time and place to orient myself to the story, but Carver likes breaking this "rule" by dumping us directly into his stories. We have to play a bit of catch-up in this one as we're not given the context of the lie or the context of the setting. The dialogue between the two characters takes center stage here! Carver has a way of using universal arguments to create character and story. These characters only become more specific as the argument continues. They are the every-man-woman, but become more specific as they refuse to give us this fight!
I love the risk Carver takes starting on line 31 with this big chunk of exposition, this desire to give us context, to create this main character out of his past experiences with lying! I love how it creates time for the wife to feel the pressure of the lie, to come clean about it! I love that these characters are talking to each other as if there is no audience, that they have no desire to reveal the details of the lie because they already know them!
I love how on line 70 he focuses on her nails, how this reveals something new about her, how really it's the lying, but Carver has us focus o the physical details of the wife. It's really subtle, but we're gearing up for a shift here in this story!
But her love for him or his unwillingness to make a major change keeps him from getting the truth, even when he meekly asks for it one last time. The wife is still in control, even after the lie. Carver often sets his characters up for change, but they fail to do it or fail to see the possibility of it, or just fail to do what it takes to change!
Prompt:
Start your story off with a lie, with two characters engaged in a dialogue with one trying to get the other to admit that they were lying. Consider withholding the lie from the reader for as long as possible! What kind of tension does this create or add? or go away from carver and give us an idea o the lie, make it foundational to the couple's relationship! How is it revealed? How does it force the main character to do something drastic? Or think about giving your main character a chance to change but they don't see it, or they miss it, or they try and fail! How can you raise the stakes? How can you extend the timeline of the moment? How does the controlling image/metaphor morph or shift from beginning to the end?
What I’m Reading:
The first story had me hooked from the first sentence! If you love short stories then get yourself a copy soon!
Kim Magowan’s flash is always engaging, always titling the world on its axis, and making me wonder, making me feel something new, something quite inescapable!
Try This At Home: Find an old story or flash and start a new story with the last line of that old story. This might help you reconceive the “Hot Spot” of the story or character’s life!
When writing flash fiction think of the "Hot Spot" in that character's life. Think of that one moment that illuminates that character's entire struggle with life. Think about a scene that will reveal that character’s life in a way that no other moment would. Unlike the short story or the novel, the writer of flash fiction does not have a full canvas, but rather a spot in the corner. The flash is much like looking at a single picture and making assumptions about who these people are and what they've gone through to get to this point in their lives.
My Writing:
3 new micros at Frigg Magazine!
“Where do stories come from? Especially those on the micro-scale of the word count? I often hear a voice or a first-line or a shimmering image. Why my brain thinks in story in narrative, I’ll never know, but I’m glad that this is the lens through which I see and interact with the world.”