I entered the Pirate Store at 826 Valencia for the first time on Thursday evening for an evening panel discussion on "Writing and Publishing the Short Story," moving past the fish theater, hand-made chapbooks, wooden catalog drawers full of candlesticks, stacks of books, bins of "who-what-when-where" dice, rows of natural-fiber brushes and trick trunks full of rope above waiting to open onto unwitting browsers in the Pirate Store, to the hardwood space beyond the jolly roger flag on a rope, where straight-back chairs (with just the suggestion of seat cushions) stood in cozy horizontal rows facing a long, wide table rimmed by office chairs and dotted by bottled waters.
Four authors and a publisher (entering on the scene of 40 eager writing enthusiasts a bit more amicable by the plastic cups three-quarters empty of white wine they carried to the table) entertained for three hours with stories of how they write a story: getting started, finishing, being in charge, character development, strengths and weaknesses, character development, motivation, voice and egos.
Judy is big on first sentences, if Nona feels a story is missing a lung she puts it away till it calls her back, Ann hides behind the strength of her characters, and Eric doesn't struggle with ending but rather the penultimate scene which must earn the ending.
Naturally, the publishing process is the second half of the story, and the panel discussed agents, editors, cover letters and submission process in the second half of the evening. And from the publisher's point of view, Eli described McSweeney's selection process as taking the cashmere sweater with a spot on the sleeve, and working with the owner to get the spot out in order to wear it.
My favorite part was the discussion about genre. Each panelist is published in short story, and some also in novel (and feeling both ends of the love-hate spectrum), with the shorter being the more difficult but rewarding suspension disbelief of character, plot and precision of language. Nona published one novel, and will never do so again. Ann is working on hers. And then the question came up about fiction versus non-fiction. Why is fiction reading at an all-time low? Somebody suggested that the public is craving something real. And that creative non-fiction is an interesting cross-section of the real and the make-believe. Eric made the point that autobiographical isn't that interesting, because as he's found with his students, one can't get the necessary perspective from what actually happened.
At the break, I went to talk with Nona. she remembered that I'd raised my hand at her question to the audience of who writes creative non-fiction, and suggested a few good places to get more. And off her earlier character comment, I told her about an essay I just read in Poets & Writers about Dubois hoping his character Miranda would do something different in her story, but that after three times re-writing, it was always the same ending.
At the end, I asked what they think about a study reported in Poets & Writers magazine about Americans reading less -- particularly young Americans. Eli responded (passionately) that the validity of their numbers is questionable, and what exactly they consider "reading." The retiree next to me whispered in agreement: "what about Internet?"
I first heard about 826 Valencia a couple years ago from a colleague, when I was marketing the Yosemite Writers Conference and checking out the local literary scene. And after the glow of camaraderie with fellow writers and the 826 events' coordinators, I know it won't be the last.
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