71 Comments
User's avatar
Christian Aldrin's avatar

I was just reading this part on Consider This. 💖

Sean Bohl's avatar

Beautiful dog and what a nice beard.

Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

What are some of your other favorite examples of Big Voice?

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

In the "novel" called Illusions by Richard Bach, he loads the narrative with truisms that I adored when I was 22 or 23. Carried that book everywhere. Among my favorites was, "Argue for your limitations and your bound to get them."

Whenever I hear someone say "Oh, I couldn't do that" or other self-limiting things, I remember the Bach truism.

Also, in Tale of Two Cities, when the evil Count runs down and kills a child, the bereaved father sneaks into the Count's palace at night. The father stabs the sleeping Count, and left with the knife is a note that says "Drive Him Fast to His Grave!" Another Big Voice truism, it occurs to me every time a speeding motorist zig-zigs past me in traffic.

Good Big Voice -- Your are not your khakis -- stays with the reader for a lifetime.

Jake Gardner's avatar

I love *Illusions* so much.

BorrowLucid's avatar

i asked a friend, with a baritone voice and jamaican accent, to read aloud ur not ur khakis for a virtual event. he'd never read nor watched fight club, but did after that! i don't have a recording, but would guess he'd be open to it again. stays fr :)

Katy Harrison's avatar

She has to be called Nora!!

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

Not my decision...

Sophie's avatar

OHHH MY GOSH. That little puppy. PLEASE keep us posted on names, I’m already in love.

Chris Skrzypek's avatar

She looks so content

Emilya Naymark's avatar

Oh my goodness how incredibly cute. She looks like she’s radiating peace waves. Dreaming another dream indeed…

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

She's already drawn blood. Those milk teeth are always the worst.

Emilya Naymark's avatar

One puppy I had ate an expensive Victoria’s Secret cardigan, a dress, a chair, and, in one especially ambitious afternoon, the kitchen floor (which, granted, was ugly linoleum, but it had a tiny rip, which the puppy pulled and pulled until the entire floor was in ribbons)

Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

Puppy teeth are razor sharp. Our oldest was a terror, usually always biting me.

Christian Aldrin's avatar

Omelette for a girl dog, Omelet for a boy.

Li's avatar

Om for short

Levi Polzin's avatar

Happy, y’all got a new pup! In my experience, it makes the hurt hurt a little less. She’s beautiful.

If I may throw a hat in the ring for a name for this little smoosh, I’ve told my wife for years, “The next dog’s name will be Dirt bike.” It has yet to come to fruition—three dogs down and still no Dirt bike.

Nivethine Mahendran's avatar

No one has captured the Dirt Bike energy yet?! 😂

I’ve always felt the name Smudge would be perfect for a dog but I haven’t had the chance to add a puppy to our family yet. (Smudge hasn’t been an appopriate name for any of my parrots 😂)

Levi Polzin's avatar

Oh! Smudge is a great pet name too.

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

Mike likes that.

Levi Polzin's avatar

Agreed, Smudge is MUCH better than Dirt bike.

Levi Polzin's avatar

I’ve also always been a fan of deeply human names for dogs, something to the effect of: Sharron or Jeff.

My very first dog was a little black pug named Mr. Lunch.

Nivethine Mahendran's avatar

Love Mr. Lunch 😂

Not a proper human name but my cockatiel that passed away recently was called Joey Jojo Jr Shabadoo (Georgio Giovanni was his Government name). He was a stinky lil guy. I miss his songs

Bernadette Francis's avatar

Mr. Lunch 🩷 my heart. I second the human names though. Shouting “Martin!” In a park could be entertaining…

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

You want to stand on the back porch and shout, "Dirt bike! Dirt bike!" ??

Michelle's avatar

If you’re a futbol fan, Chelsea. Then every morning you can get up and yell “com’on Chelsea!” like a Brit.

John Raisor's avatar

Whats the "murder" in Heartburn?

Did you get a new meatball?

If anyone can share creative ways that people are killed/exiled/ostracized in the murder/martyr/witness structure, I'd be very grateful.

Realized that the "murder" I wrote isnt write today. Have to rethink it. Should have this 3.5 year old project licked by the end of the year. Excited to finally share the details here. After I pay the USCO.

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

The (symbolic) martyr is Rachel's former lover jumping into the Central Park seal pond as a faux suicide. The murder is Rachel slamming a pie into her cheating husband's face. Rachel tells the story so she's the witness.

John Raisor's avatar

Ah, yes, youve shared this before. Interesting. Im looking for some sort of social pie in the face.

Cheryl's avatar

Congratulations on your new puppy!!! She’s gorgeous and perfect!!

Karin Kohlmeier's avatar

I would take a bullet for that dog. My God. ❤️

Chuck Palahniuk's avatar

Welcome home! I was looking for you for a House Call.

Karin Kohlmeier's avatar

Oh! It hadn’t even occurred to me that I’m allowed to submit for a second one. I’d be thrilled to get your input on the first chapter of my novel. I’ll get that up ASAP and post a link on the call page.

Logan the Lobotomizer's avatar

So, we can double-dip if we’ve already had one?

dorch's avatar

That's a cute dog!

Francis's avatar

Laying in the grass with a new puppy is one example of something that makes me question all the bullshit. Everyone should start the day off with a mandatory 15 minutes of puppy time.

Nivethine Mahendran's avatar

Oh, what a precious puppy 🥹! You both look so peaceful in that pic💛

I’ve been having an amazing month so far with writing. Every chapter or short story really has felt like an experiment where I’m also learning about myself and things that are holding me back. My biggest learning lately is that I hate making people feel uncomfortable in real life, but this regularly translates to my writing.

Also this month is ice berg season in Newfoundland, so big chunks of ice that have made the trek all the way from the Arctic show up overnight on the shores. I feel like I’m discovering iceberg chunks of myself while I’m writing.