A New Experiment
The Laboratory for Future Advice
Every workshop is a chance to experiment, and I’ll bring the best results back here to share
With the recent Contest Photos we got closer and closer to writing from “inside” the image. The best entries implied context rather than stating it.
In this up-coming workshop we’ll look at writing from within the POV of a serial killer. Either your favorite or your invented one. Personally, I’m fascinated by how people choose a favorite killer as they would a patron saint. When Dan Frazier was in workshop he also tended bar in Tacoma, Washington, where he said everyone established relatedness by their proximity to Ted Bundy. For instance, their mother had sold a dress to Bundy’s mother at the mall. Or someone’s sister attended high school with Bundy. In so many ways, serial killers have found a place in our lives.
Of course, I’ll be applying the usual Minimalist rules. All my bugaboos about attribution, objects, horses, on-the-body, big/little voice, etc. But Chelsea will bring her body of knowledge about forensics and the killers themselves. All prompts and homework will be serial killer-centric.
The Thursday night workshop will continue as usual.
This sounds incredible! I'll start crossing my fingers now.
Meanwhile, an anecdote I figured you and this crowd would enjoy: Last week I bought Geek Love at the Strand. This weekend, I was reading it and a ticket stub fell out -- from a showing of a movie called "Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives" at the Film Forum in 2011. Naturally, I had to know what kind of movie the person reading Geek Love would be going to see, so I rented it on Amazon. It's definitely among the weirdest movies I've ever seen. (I expected ghosts-and-forest-creatures weird. I did not expect erotic-scene-with-a-catfish weird.) But it's also atmospheric and beautiful and genuinely moving. And I'm positive I would have gone the rest of my life having never heard of it if it wasn't for a forgotten ticket stub in a book.
For anyone reading this comment, if you have the means, you should absolutely go for this. I'm already committed to a Monday night writing group 😭 I miss your workshops Chuck!