Join us Friday at the RedHouse for a reading by Steve Almond, author of, among many others, the brand new This Won't Take But a Minute, Honey, which is composed of 30 very brief stories, and 30 very brief essays on the psychology and practice of writing. Here, the DWC brings you Steve's very own favorite writing prompt:
Write about a moment in your life that still haunts you. Could be something wonderful (first kiss) or something horrible (first great shame). But it should be the sort of memory that you can't shake. Now write about the actual moments of peak emotion. This should be a very short period of time -- no more than a minute. It's good to set up the situation with some context, so we know what's going on. But once we do, try to slow down as much as you can and write about what you were seeing and hearing and thinking and feeling in that moment of peak emotion. The idea is to capture everything that's going on -- emotionally, sensually, intellectually, psychologically -- in those moments that matter most.
As Steve would say, Rock on.
See you Friday at the RedHouse.
Steve Almond is the author the story collections My Life in Heavy Metal and The Evil B.B. Chow, the novel Which Brings Me to You (with Julianna Baggott), and the non-fiction books Candyfreak and (Not That You Asked). His new book, Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life, will be out in Spring 2010.
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