TheBanyanTree: Easy, isn't it?

[John Bailey]

Sunday September 21, 2003

EASY, ISN'T IT?

A couple of days back I wrote a short-short as an exercise on my writing 
group. The brief was to produce a complete story in 100 words, exactly, not 
counting the title, and allowing contractions as one word. For whatever 
reason it has stuck in my mind since so I'll paste it here for the record 
before it disappears in my 'sent items' mailbox:


      THE HOMECOMING

      The sun shone through the kitchen window, illuminating the
      washing bowl, lining each bubble in the suds with a tiny rainbow
      and endowing each cup, saucer and plate with a rosy glow through
      the porcelain as Edna washed, shook, and inspected the breakfast
      dishes to be sure they were clean.

      The garden gate clicked, squeaked, and clicked again as it shut.
      Edna looked up, puzzled that the postman should be calling so
      soon after breakfast. The plate she was washing fell unheeded
      from her hands, clattering into the bowl.

      "Oh, m'dear," she cried, drying her arms. "You'm home! You'm
      home!"


The final line should be read in a West Country accent, or the back-home 
dialect of your choice. The "You'm" seemed to give some American members of 
the group great difficulty. It means "You are" or, in one word, "You're". 
Can't see the problem myself given the context but there you go.

These exercises are always worth the time, no matter how busy you might be 
on other projects. Quite apart from the beneficial effect they have on a 
writing group, keeping it alive and on target, it can make a refreshing 
break away from other things.  The task of producing a complete story in 
'n' words, containing the classic elements of situation, characterization. 
conflict and resolution is a challenge. Adding one or more sub-plots in 
such a short piece is not an impossibility but it is a dangerous thing to 
attempt if confusion is to be avoided. It's better, probably, certainly 
safer, to choose a familiar situation, invite the reader in, and leave him 
to use his own experience to bear.

Undertaking an exercise like this is, more than anything else, a test of 
the degree to which the writer has studied and understood the basic craft 
of writing and the self-discipline with which he applies it.

Let's be clear about this. Apart from one basic snag, writing is the 
easiest of all crafts to learn. All you need to bring with you is a working 
knowledge of the language in which you intend to write, a pad and a pencil. 
All you have to learn is a set of simple rules of construction, not many, 
fewer in fact than you'd need to master knitting. Study them diligently, 
apply a modicum of observation and originality along with a good deal of 
application, and you'll succeed. You may never make the ranks of the 
internationally famous literary writers but you'll be able to turn out a 
story that people will want to read. And you'll be able to go on doing so, 
day in, day out, for as long as you want. Simple as that.

And the snag? Well, there's the rub. There's only one barrier to successful 
writing and that is your own ego. Unless you can learn to leave it outside 
the writing room door and ignore its anxious, dog-like panting while you 
work, you're going to find the whole thing frustrating and onerous and, 
ultimately, you'll fail.

Easy, isn't it?

--
John Bailey   Carmarthenshire, Wales
journal of a writing man
<http://www.oldgreypoet.com>