By DUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZThe Paz Files
AUSTIN, Texas - Last week, I started teaching a writing class at a local library. The class is about writing the short story, about creating a story's plot, setting, point-of-view, rising action, climax, falling action and ultimate resolution. I enjoy it.
At present, I have five students, three adults and two young ladies - one a seventh-grader and the other a bright nine-year-old. We run through the basic elements of the story and then we write a short story in the second-half of the one-hour class. The students seem to enjoy the discussions, the give & take we chase after a student reads his or her story, when we question the writer about certain aspects of the story.
During last night's class, one of the older students read her story about failed romance and how sometimes the deterioration of a relationship can be simply described in the precision of a story's title. "Freedom Walks," was the student's title. In roughly 500 words, she managed to tell a story of ambivalence, of abandonment, of disconnection, of romantic give-up, finalized by the story's female character's decision to pack her bags and leave the marriage.
Questions from the other students followed, my nine-year-old asking the writer how she'd come up with the story and what exactly had precipitated the break-up. Short stories don't always give you the A-to-Z of an entire story. In fact, short stories began where longer stories usually near conclusion. The student writer offered her explanation and we went on.
Another student wrote about the hanging of a man who'd stolen potato pancakes. Not, not from an IHOP table, but from poor people during another time in famined Ireland. It told about the chase for the burglar and of his capture and of his hanging. It was another time, when such things happened. Anyway, the story had the added irony. It seems the sheriff in the crowd had been disgusted with the hanging, so he turned in his badge and left the small community. The title of this student's story was "Death in a Small Town," which went both to the hanging of the miscreant and to the symbolism of the sheriff's action. Something else had died in the town.
I generally enjoy talking about writing with anyone, whether a professional writer or with someone who may simply be interested in this or that aspect of the craft. My class meets for an hour on Tuesdays and Fridays, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. I allow for drinks and snacks, mainly because that's what I have on my desk at home when working on my stories. It's my comfort food, in other words.
The class will run through mid-December, at which time perhaps we will gather the best 20 or 30 stories and hope to get them published in a collection. It's all part of my life's rolling writing lab, my way of staying fresh in the face of, well, too much writing.
Yes, this blog is part of that journey, too...
- 30 -
11 comments:
Good for you. Volunteering to share your gift is an honorable undertakling. Wish you could offer your classes here in Harlingen. Thanks for the blog.
Volunteering for a cause is always good for the soul.
Jimmy Barotn's mean misters blogspot, features an interview with Junior Bonner, an apparent employee of the Paz-files.
Apperantly Junior is an accomplished guitar player, but in the interviw, he complains that the editor of the Paz-files is a cheapo. He wouldn't give Jr. beer money
An interesting interviewed with the wicked cowboy.
Wow, Jr. Bonner does exist, from WEatherford Tx. I thought he was from Ohio, or was that Brother Jonesy??? Both live in trailers.
ANON:...Volunteering isn't one of my personality traits, but this is all about writing and trying to get people to do it. I am always surprised by the passion some bring to the craft. It's not rocket science or heart surgery, but it, too, is part of what we call the luxuries of Life... - Editor
I applaud you for being so kind. Our bloggers in the valley would never do this. Oh, yes, they would want to charge or handed money under the table. You are unique, Mr. Editor
I don't think that was Junior Bonner in that other Brownsville blog. That guy in the picture looks Gay. Bonner is definitely not Gay.
I agree. that's not Jr. Bonner in that other blog. just some clown being used by another clown. preety pathetic, but that's Browntown.
Those other blogs in Brownsville pale against the Paz Files. It's always bitching and whining in that town. The blogs play that tune. Plus one blogger has bene to jail. No class in B-Town.
I think Paz-Martinez owes an explanation to the bloggers, why is Paz-M protecting Junior Bonner.
As for the other guy being gay, well other than what the editor writes, no one really knows Bonner, for all we know, he is gay to the Max.
Junior Bonner, wrtie an article about yourself, were you in Brownsville speaking to Jimmy Barton, yes or no???
I follow Mr. Paz-Martinez's blog, and sometimes read "Mean Mr. Brownsville". I dont know any of these people personally, but like to read their blogs for information and/or entertainment. I dont know if Bonner exists, but, like some of the characters in other blogs, he could be the alter ego of the writer (I thought). If you compare the pictures that appear in "The Paz Files" with the guy in the other blog, they dont look anything alike.
A comment about your piece on your writing class: I took a "Creative writing" class in college; eventhough it was an elective, it was part of my minor. When you do creative writing for fun, you can get more out of it and really learn a thing or two. As a journalist, you are a writer, as a writer, your trait can be given to others as a way to develop individual creativity but it is up to each individual to develop their own. You are putting your grain of salt, especially to the next generation.
Thank you.
*Woman (from Brownsville)
Post a Comment