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John Prine, the great songwriter, said that the most important quality for writing
is patience. I would add that the significance of patience is that there are times
when that's all you're left with.
***
My stories seem completely different:
- Two itinerate actors gets stuck in the characters of Richard III and Falstaff and
try to take over a small Texas town.
- A selfish old man discovers that happiness is a shared experience.
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An eleven-year-old girl must save her inventor parents from the world and their
world from their inventions.
But in a way, they are all the same story - the one about how, despite our best
efforts to the contrary, humanity is not billions of experiences but one.
***
Serial Mono-grammy (mono'grame) n. [[Fr mono < LL(Ec) mono < Gr (one) + ME gramer
< OFr grmaire < L grammatica (ars, art)]]
Many stories, one at a time
Sitting on a bookcase in my office is a handsome ceramic box stampled with clouds.
The box brims with fresh ideas scribbled on scraps collected over the years.
I've never used one.
Every idea I've written about is one I didn't need to put to paper until it overwhelmed
me.
I never write two pieces simultaneously, though I will occassionally write one as I edit another.
I finish every piece I start. I believe that if I leave one unfinished, I'll curse
the rest.
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