60 Comments

The reading sounds so exciting. Such great writing tips!!!

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I agree!

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“Letter to Santa Claus” night sounds like a great time! Any chance they’ll be recorded/posted for those of us who won’t be able to make it?

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Sadly, I doubt it. Our tech guy, Brad, moved to Mexico.

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Love me some snark!

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Would the cashew nut that the brothers use in ‘Not Forever’ to imitate their grandfather be considered a through-line object? Asking because the cashew nut -- just this ordinary piece of food -- is something that takes on meaning with the repetitive way the brothers use it. Like when I think of the flashback scenes with the Grandfather I always picture the cashew nut being placed in one of the brother’s ear lobes. That, and how this proxy through-line object cultivates in a certain gesture towards the end of the novel involving the grandfather’s actual hearing aid.

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Exactly. As the necklace is the through-line object in 'Rosemary's Baby' and is eventually resolved by being dropped into the sewer.

The moment the object appears it carries history and signals a shift.

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Good question! Brandon, you also make really great suggestions. I appreciate you.

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Thank you!

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That was beautiful. THANKS!

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I often cite The Awful German Language as one of the funniest articles I ever read.

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Dammit.

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I would love to write a letter to Santa and read it to a group of drunks (but Only on a Wednesday). Thank you for the reason on the through line activity. I can use it in all sorts of things I am writing or have written. Thanks Chuck.

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One vote for Wednesday. You'd be very good at this.

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Thanks Chuck.

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Count me in for a letter to Santa!

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Perfect.

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Was just in a Zoom meeting with Monica discussing essays, and the gift shop at Los Alamos came up. It got my gears grinding on commodifying memories. How we often buy souvenirs mindlessly and never see them or remember the event again. Then I got to a question I couldnt answer.

Do the memories we have that don't have objects attached to them matter more? Are they more valuable when they werent commodified?

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My guess is that it relies on your method of memory retrieval. Lots of my friends hoard, lots of stuff, because each item is their avenue to retrieving an anecdote. My method is to repeat the anecdote often enough that I never fully forget it, and to group anecdotes along a theme. This retrieval method works like Minimalism by illustrating a point with many examples. My preferred method doesn't require souvenirs.

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I have a memory box, and love souvenirs, but rarely examine them or remember those experiences. Prefer it when social interaction cues memories. And my best story ideas always get cooked up that way too.

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I want to read that now!

Great analysis.

Tourists can be so uncouth. I’ve seen cigarette ends in glacial pools.

And don’t get me started on dolphin botherers😂

I suppose taking a piece of a building could be the ‘proof’ people now seek in selfies.

Humans are such trophy hunters in so many ways. The “I was there” element so often eclipses the experience itself sadly.

So many things a writer could do with that concept and it sounds like Twain employed it well.

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Oh, I have PLENTY to say in a letter to Mr. Claus.

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I’m currently working my way through the Complete Mark Twain Short Stories (a rather huge paperback). And I adore The Innocents Abroad! My favorite gag of his is playing with the tour guides; whenever shown work by someone like DaVinci, one of the group would always inquire about the artist, “Is… is he dead?”

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I'll try my hand at the Letters to Santa Claus

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You will also be good at this.

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Unsure that I’d be able to write anything worth reading, but what a fun thing it would be to come listen!

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The magic of the form is that it's short. The only set-up you need is "Dear Santa" and then you're free to rant.

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I can certainly manage a decent rant. I may have to play around with this idea.

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Count me in for a letter to Santa!

Also I’m tickled because your lesson is so perfectly timed for something I’m tinkering on while waiting for my Golem book to be snatched up. A retelling of Medusa with a vagina dentate instead of snakes on a hermits quest. I can use this non-fiction travel form so thank you so much for that!

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O.R. Christmas.

Pretty sure it’ll be ready in a month.

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