It took 3 days to read on radio |
By 17, I was writing and
publishing what would be called flash fiction today. The peculiarity of this
was noted, but not always reviled. There was a lot more experimenting with form
then than there is now.
“To irony, ambiguity, and tension--Andother things I do not wish to mention.”
~Kenneth Koch
At Columbia University, I
was fortunate in being able to take a poetry writing class with Kenneth Koch, a
thing well known to be a life changing experience. He taught us never to
undervalue either simplicity or surprise.
Lady Murasaki composes flash fiction circa 1000 C.E. |
The magic words, “flash
fiction” came along only recently, but people have always written very short
fiction. The form has a history millennia longer than the long forms like
novels. Romans of the classical age, early medieval Japanese court ladies, and
17th century Frenchwomen have been especial masters of the craft.
The next issue of blink-ink print, coming in early April
and themed, “Mystery Train” will
lead off with a 40-word microfiction by Petronius Arbiter, written about 54
A.D. Petronius lived in Cumae and had been to see the Cumaean Sybil. He
constructed a couple of stellar sentences about the experience. When,
eventually, he built a scene in the Satyricon
around them, the purport of the scene was to make fun of anyone who would say
anything so preposterous as those two sentences. Yet, they remain one of the
best pairs of sentences in all of literature..
I love sentences. Most
writers will tell you they love words. Words are good, but sentences are the
bees’ knees. Syntax makes me hot.
I have been a hired-gun
writer most of my working life and have only gotten back to writing the things
I wish to say in the last decade or so.
I began as a political
speechwriter, which was my introduction to writing comedy. A joke I wrote for
the Mayor of NYC to tell on The Tonight Show provoked more hate mail than
anything the show had received up to that point—an early career triumph that I
am unlikely to live long enough to top.
I am also a radio-head,
another exercise in writing short best defined as getting to the point
immediately or sooner. It also teaches the difference between writing for the
eye and writing for the ear.
The Mayor tells a joke. |
This was before the
corporate Kraken crushed the life out of broadcasting, but even then, the
commercial spots were heinous. The effect of that, in legal language, was that
of an ‘attractive nuisance’—something I could not resist messing with. To my
knowledge, I was the first (and probably the last) to write and produce radio
commercials that exploited multi-tracking capabilities around tiny whacked
stories. I recorded 30 and 60 second
stories with bed music and the commercial message woven through them on side
and travel tracks. Thus, I learned what is actually at stake when we say, “in a
minute.”
Perhaps because of time
spent telling other people’s stories, I like to throw some elbows in my
writing. I like it even better when I hit something.
I am among those writers who
need to get a first line down in order to release the goat pen of babble. That
first line is often the first line of the finished piece but not always.
Sometimes that first sentence is entirely gone when the piece is finished---the
sacrificial sentence. I suppose this amounts to being mostly muse-driven. As
such I don’t benefit from disciplines like writing at the same time every day
or setting a daily quota of words or pages. Sometimes a whole piece will leap
from my head fully-formed. Only the white goddess knows why.
See Sally Reno in action at the January F-Bomb event: MOUTH CRIMES with Gay Degani and hosted by Kathy Fish:
See Sally Reno in action at the January F-Bomb event: MOUTH CRIMES with Gay Degani and hosted by Kathy Fish:
_______________________________
Sally
Reno’s fiction has been among the winners of
National Public Radio’s Three Minute Fiction Contest, Moon Milk Review’s Prosetry Contest, and
has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She lives in a vaporish grotto where
she serves as Pythoness to blink-ink print and Haruspex for Shining Mountains
Press.
Author photo by Jesse Coley
10 comments:
Sally-
I didn't want your piece to end.
Paul
Love you even more now. :)
Thanks, Paul!
Thanks, Jayne!
That was a great read. That syntax was good for me. And three-cheers for radio!
Sally Reno you've lived the most fascinating life, I wish I knew you when you were in NY, it would have been a gas to hang out with you! This was such a great 'journey' piece!
I love sentences. Most essayists will let you know they adore words.The enchantment words, Travel tagged along just as of late, however individuals have constantly composed short fiction. Essentially take a tuk-tuk to the dock on the morning you might want to depart.In case you're looking for long visits in Kerala picking neighborhood is that the best choice kochi airport taxi i assume this sums to being for the most part dream driven. All things considered I don't profit by controls such as composing in the meantime consistently or setting a day by day standard of words or pages. Now and then an entire piece will jump from my head full grown.
Glad the syntax was good for you too AE. (smoking now....)
One day we will keep that date, Susan. Cornelia Street Cafe awaits!
Sally, this is terrific! Can't wait to see you in Los Angeles (AWP) and also TAOS!!! Watch out world: here we come!
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