Jane’s Meme: Learning to Write

My friend Jane invited me to her meme about learning to write. The assignment is to write about three contradictory practices that helped in my development. Mine aren’t necessarily contradictory, just not obviously connected, but they overlap quite a bit.
1.
I aced my senior composition project in high school. Grades don’t necessarily reflect what students learn, [...]

Unpacking My Lunch Box

At an antique mall today, I noticed many lunchboxes that I coveted as a child. In my early elementary school days, my friends got to carry lunch boxes that featured pictures of the Peanuts gang, the Six Million Dollar Man, Scooby Doo, etc.
I, however, had to shlep a purple box–with a matching handle–adorned with the [...]

Believable Fiction

Fact can be stranger than fiction, but readers tend to have a low threshold for the unconventional in fiction. Writing believable stories requires writers to play into what’s expected. How far you can veer from that depends on who you’re writing for and how willing readers are to play along.
In grad school, my fellow students [...]

Must Be the First Night of Hanukkah

The candle we lit hours ago is still burning.
My sweater is saturated with the scent of fried oil. In fact, the whole house smells that way.
I’m so full, it’s affecting my breathing.
But there’s one more latke, and I’d hate for it to go to waste.

Doing the Aftermath

I’ve never experienced an earthquake, but from what I know about them, I’m guessing they’re a lot like panic attacks.
Both are difficult to anticipate (unless you’re in a particular zone, in which case, you should just expect rumblings at any time).
In their aftermaths, they somehow make sense, whether they were big or small. But you [...]