Thank you
, , , , , , , and the 80+ of you who joined us live. The live “Three Things” conversations are always free; the replay and bonus material are for paid subscribers.Spending this hour together was wonderful for
and me, and we were energized by the vibrant writing community on Substack that showed up with such enthusiasm and curiosity. Thank you again for your presence.Here’s what we discussed
Beth’s piece, “Budejovicka” (213 words)
On marriage: “inhabiting a space” together
Helen Humphrys, Followed by the Lark, “paying attention is a kind of devotion” (Thoreau)
“Which of those details matter…which of those details begin to signify the larger story”
9:35 “We write to know, we write to find out”
13:25 “Fewer words, more meaning”
15:00 On Virginia Woolf and intentionally choosing each word
15:18 On the choreography of her Substack
Michael Ondaatje
23:50 What our short pieces can do for a reader; “look within it and find the embed of a prompt” (the subtitle may also offer the prompt) so the reader might then think, “I would like to write that”
Suleika Jaouad, The Book of Alchemy and her Substack, The Isolation Journals
48:53 Tomorrow Will Bring Sunday’s News, Tursulowe Press, Jessie Williams Burns and CK Williams
Darien’s piece, “Artifact” (677 words) and her accompanying Note with a personal update
On challenging sibling relationship: the ah-ha clarity
21:47 Sharing personal (and generative) work on Substack
25:00 Dissecting the structure and rhythm of “Artifact” — personal vs the science, line/white space, facts vs personal revelation (pacing); facts vs the poetical
34:20 The urgency to get a story down
35:20 “Tiny Love Story” (99 words, not 55; at least I remembered it was double digits) from Allegiance: Micro Essays
We met at the baggage claim at LAX—he was picking me up as a favor to
my best friend. By midafternoon, we were holding hands. A clerk at the
post office told us, “You’re a match made in heaven.” That evening we met up with my friend who socked him across the jaw—his glasses went flying across the dance floor at the Mayan. Turns out she liked him, too. Five years later, she and I were no longer friends. He and I found each other again, reunited in New Zealand. We moved to Hawai‘i and had three kids.
52:15 Of being a writer and human in this world
52:30 Of ah-ha moments and pinning our stories to the page
Now it’s your turn
Beth is generously providing a writing tip and a prompt to help us continue the conversation:
