No Moment Too Small

18 Saturday May 2013

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blog, fictional characters, Flagstaff, greatest novels, human experience, inspiration, life, moment, Shakespeare, small moments, Steinbeck, story, storytelling, writing, Writing Life

“Maybe you should put that in your blog.”

I hear that a lot. Most recently from Kevin, a friend from work, while he was scrubbing graffiti off a stop sign. Hardly a week goes by when someone doesn’t bring up a possible topic. Everything from everyday oddities to old family stories are suggested as ripe for blogging.

And it got me thinking — stories can come from everywhere. You don’t need a story that sweeps across all of time and space; you don’t need to tackle issues as vast as war or the relationship between God and humanity to write compelling fiction. Some of the greatest novels in history deal with the smallest of subjects. Steinbeck’s simple tale of an Oklahoma family and a drought described an entire generation of Americans. Shakespeare’s ordinary tale of young love defined the human experience. Big ideas often come in small packages.

Insignificant events are the seeds of great stories. In the hands of a writer, these ordinary moments are strung like pearls on a necklace to create a whole that has the depth and complexity to keep us reading to the very last sentence.

It is from those small moments that great narratives are formed (and great blogs).

— 30 —

I’m a writer living in Flagstaff, AZ. Tell me where you find your stories in the comments or send me a tweet at @jonnyeberle.

3 Things No One Told Me About the Year After College

14 Tuesday May 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Procrastination, Rants

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am writing, Writing Life, school, work, life, personal reflection, rant, list, starving writer, NAU, future, graduation, grad, college, undergraduate, life changes, graduate, job, 3 things no one told me, top 3, job search

A year ago, I graduated from college. I was bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and ready to take on the world with my fellow grads. Anything was possible. Since then, my optimism has faded. I’m still glad that I went, but I wish I’d known a few things back then that I learned over the past year.

1) It’s okay to settle for a less-than-perfect job

For some reason, I thought a bachelor’s degree was my golden ticket to my dream job. I was going to land the perfect gig and work there until I retired (or at the very least, I would get a cool job doing something I was trained for).

It didn’t happen. I didn’t get into my field. I didn’t even get a job that requires the degree I spent four years slaving over. At first, I was disheartened. But the more I heard similar stories from my old classmates, I realized that our expectations were wrong.

The economy is bad and getting any kind of work is difficult — even for highly intelligent, highly qualified people. It’s okay to settle for something less than ideal. Getting to the dream job is a long climb and you’ve got to start at the bottom and struggle your way up. Along the way, you might even learn a thing or two they didn’t teach in college.

2) Some Things Never Change

I used to believe that the transition from college to post-college was a magic door that would transform me into a “responsible adult.” I had to trade in my screen-printed t-shirts and hoodies for a suit and tie. Fun was forbidden.

The truth is, there’s no point when you’re “too old” for silliness. Graduating and getting a job may make you feel self-important, but you’re the same person you’ve always been. I’m only as old as I want to be.

I could take myself seriously, or I can have fun while my joints still allow me to dance and my metabolism still allows me to overeat. Just because I’m in the “real world,” it doesn’t mean that I have to give up on fun. So what if you have to wear dress shoes to work? Go to Denny’s at 3 am with your friends and eat some pie.

3) You Don’t Know Everything

You’ve completed a rigorous course of study at a premier institution of higher education. That’s not a license to let your brain turn into mush. College can’t prepare you for everything; it’s important to keep an open mind and be ready to learn new skills (like how to reset a jammed garbage disposal or how to speak sign language or how to design a website). The world is full of things you don’t know.

Even if you don’t return to formal education, you can still learn a lot. Read articles, travel and talk to people from wildly different backgrounds. You can gain so much from new experiences that you’ll never find in a textbook.

Education makes us more human. So learn and grow. You’ll be a better and happier person for it.

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Jonny Eberle graduated in 2012 with a degree in Journalism and Political Science. In his free time, he likes to come up with Top 3 lists, which are easier to write than Top 10 lists. You can also find him on Twitter: @jonnyeberle.

The First Rights Problem

03 Friday May 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Writing

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

am writing, fiction, First Northern American Rights, First Publishing Rights, First Rights, First Rights of Publication, flash fiction, legal, literary journal, publication, publish, publishing, rights, short story, starving writer, story, writing, Writing Life

I’ve been trying to write a new flash fiction piece for the blog for a couple of weeks now, but every time I start, it morphs into a longer piece. And as soon as it crosses into the territory of short stories, I can’t post it. The trouble is something called “First Publication Rights.”

First publication rights is exactly what it sounds like. Every story or book only gets it once and the minute you’ve published it, it never has them again. This is what publishers are buying: the rights to show your work to the public for the very first time. This used to be easy to do; before the rise of easy online publishing. Now, I can publish anything I want on this website, whenever I want to post it. But as soon as I do, the first publication rights are spoiled and no editor will touch it.

I love blogging, but as I writer with aspirations of publication, I have to use discretion. I can’t post everything I write. As much as I want to show off to you all, I can’t risk using up my first rights and losing my chance to sell my work to a literary journal or other publication.

So, my hands are tied every time a flash fiction piece turns into a short story. Still, it’s better to play it safe in the hopes of hitting the big time than publish it on the blog and never know what I could’ve been.

— 30 —

I’m a writer in Flagstaff, AZ. Seeing as I’ve relinquished the first rights to this post, the least you can do is check out my Twitter feed: @jonnyeberle.

The Thing That Keeps Us Going

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

am writing, confidence, future, literary journal, motivation, obstacles, personal reflection, publishing, story, submission, writing, Writing Life

Yesterday afternoon, I got a literary journal in the mail. It was one I submitted to last year. They rejected my piece, but I get copies of the magazine; a consolation prize. As I tore off the plastic wrapping, I wanted nothing more than to find my own words in those pages. But they weren’t there. At least, not yet.

Confidence in my own work comes in waves. There are highs and lows. And with the lows comes a desperation. Flipping through the journal, I was desperate for validation. I was desperate to make it in this field. You can either let that desperation drag you down or use it as fuel to drive you forward.

No matter what it is you want to become, there are always obstacles to getting there. But there is always that one thing that keeps you going. The thing that challenges you to carry on. For me, that lit journal — the one that didn’t publish me — is the thing that keeps me coming back to the keyboard. Someday, my stories will fill those pages and people around the world will read them, but until that day, there’s a lot of work to do.

— 30 —

I’m a writer is Flagstaff, AZ. You can leave your thoughts in the comments below or find me on the Twitter machine: @jonnyeberle.

Envelopes and Anticipation
The End of an Era
Failing with Style

A Change of Place

29 Monday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

am writing, clutter, coffee shop, creativity, distraction, setting, Sunday thoughts, tips, writer's block, writer's block tips, writing, Writing Life

Writer’s block is the worst. Worse than getting a cold in the summer. It sneaks up without warning and can leave you wordless for days, weeks. Thousands of books and blogs have been written promising the cure. Sometimes they help, but sometimes there is no easy cure. Like a car on an icy road, you’re spinning your wheels and unable to move. And it’s frustrating. I know. I have writer’s block right now.

Deadlines are looming and I cannot, for the life of me, get one word down. I tried freewriting. I tried writing prompts off the Internet. I tried eating a spoonful of peanut butter (Wait, was that for writer’s block or hiccups?).

Finally, I realized what it was. It was the place. Not the setting in my story — the place where I was writing. My apartment was toxic. I was surrounded by mental clutter that was stressing me out and keeping me from writing. Bills were piling up on the counter; dishes in the sink; clothes in the hamper. Whenever I sat down to write, I saw the dining room chairs that need to be refinished and reupholstered or the tax documents that still needed to be filed or any number of projects that demand my immediate attention.

I needed a change of venue. (My girlfriend’s apartment wasn’t much better. She has final exams coming up and stress is contagious.) Finally, I ended up at Bookmans, a local used bookstore with a cozy cafe. It’s one of my favorite spots; always filled with interesting people and books brimming with stories.

And sometimes, when all the complicated remedies fail to deliver, a simple change is all you need. Because I sat down at the bar with my tea and the words started pouring out, as if they’d been waiting there for me all along.

— 30 —

I’m a writer living in Flagstaff, AZ. How do you deal with writer’s block? Leave your tips in the comments or shoot me a tweet: @jonnyeberle.

Let Your Characters Speak for Themselves

21 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Writing

≈ 2 Comments

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am writing, Arthur Miller, character, conversation, creative writing, dialogue, drama, George Bernard Shaw, Hamlet, Harvey Fierstein, how to, how to write dialogue, language, Lisa Loomer, Neil Simon, people watching, play, playwright, prose, story, Sunday thoughts, theatre, writing, writing advice, Writing Life

Some writers are afraid of dialogue. I used to be one of them. I would write page after page of brilliant narrative — crisp details and settings so real you could smell the ponderosa pine sap on the thin mountain air — without a single line of dialogue.

I was terrified to let my characters speak. Because I knew the spoken word was a whole different beast to tame. It didn’t play by the same rules as straight narrative and it was hard to get a feel for it from the authors I was reading. Dialogue was the weakest part of my game, so I tried to minimize its role in my prose.

I think a lot of writers fall into this same trap. Dialogue is scary. It feels clunky and fake when it’s written out; it’s difficult to figure out what’s missing. What is the spark that makes it real?

It takes time to train your ear to hear speech correctly. A lot of it comes from talking to and listening to people. People from all over the world. Notice where they place emphasis; which words they use over and over; the cadence of their sentences.

Quickly, you’ll notice that people do not speak properly. Life isn’t an English essay. People don’t use complete sentences. They sprinkle their conversations with jargon, quotes, references, inside jokes. They conjugate verbs incorrectly and end sentences with prepositions.

The second thing you should do is immerse yourself in theatre. Watch some plays. Then read some plays. Then write some plays. Plays are almost entirely dialogue. There is some stage direction, but the spoken parts carry the plot, develop the characters and engage the audience. If you want to see how language can make a piece of writing sparkle, study the plays of Neil Simon, Harvey Fierstein, Lisa Loomer, Arthur Miller and George Bernard Shaw. Notice how the characters play off each other; notice how hidden agendas and secret desires are manifested in the dialogue.

With a careful ear and a lot of practice, the dialogue in your stories can go from the dullest facet of your piece to the most polished.

— 30 —

Jonny Eberle is a writer, photographer and occoccasional playwright living in Flagstaff, AZ. You can find more of his signature wit, wisdom and words, words, words on Twitter: @jonnyeberle.

A Time and Place for All Words

18 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Procrastination, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

am writing, busy, creative writing, creativity, fiction, finding time, personal reflection, procrastination, rant, right brain, schedule, scheduled writing, subconscious, time, work, writer's block, writing, Writing Life

It’s been six days since my last blog post; six days since I wrote anything of my own. This is one of those hectic weeks that won’t look so bad from the comfort of next week. There are a million and ten things to be done at work and by the time I get home, I’m drained of any impulse to be creative.

The sad part is that ideas keep coming to me. They turn up on my doorstep uninvited in the middle of some other task, begging for my attention.

I’m editing a grant report.
Pay attention to me.
I’m working on a presentation.
Pay attention to me.
Come back in an hour, I’m in a staff meeting.
Pay attention to me!

My subconscious doesn’t like being ignored. I’m having more and more difficulty focusing; my dreams are increasingly bizarre. Words and stories are bottled up inside me, ready to burst when they should be released slowly over time.

Time. Time is the hard part. There just isn’t enough of it and my free minutes are stolen away by aimless Internet searches. What I need is structured time to write. To pour it all out and free up extra hard drive space in my brain.

Not writing is unhealthy. And I wouldn’t be in this sorry state — unable to write anything because too many ideas are clamoring for escape to focus on any one — if I made a better effort to write every day.

You win, right brain. As usual.

— 30 —

Jonny Eberle is a writer and photographer in Flagstaff, AZ. His laptop’s option key was broken exactly four years and four months ago by a falling point-and-shoot camera. You can follow him on Twitter at @jonnyeberle.

Flash Fiction Friday: Running Away

12 Friday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Flash Fiction, Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

am writing, cars, digital exhaustion, digital life, digital sabbath, driving, escape, fiction, Flagstaff, flash fiction, Flash Fiction Friday, highway, Holbrook, jeep cherokee, monsoon, Northern Arizona, rain, rear view mirror, running away, sabbath, short story, storm, summer, Take It Easy, travel, Winslow, writing, Writing Life

Rick didn’t start panicking until he was 40 miles away from Flagstaff. He was now 20 minutes late for work and driving 80 miles per hour in the opposite direction. He intended to go to into the office as usual, but the moment he got behind the wheel and turned the key in the ignition; felt the horsepower at his command, he felt the overwhelming need to run away.

Without thinking, without calling, he got on the interstate east. He never left the fast lane. His ailing Jeep Cherokee coughed and struggled to maintain speed. In the rear view mirror, the San Francisco Peaks rose out of the flat desert to be shrouded by boiling monsoon storm clouds.

“Take It Easy” came on the radio as the first fat drops pelted the windshield. 15 miles to Winslow. Still, he kept running. He ran from the phone calls, the emails, the calendar reminders, the meetings, the endless work hours that dogged him from the office to his apartment and back.

The engine warning light blinked on and the oil temperature gauge spiked. Rick turned the A/C off to vent the excess heat, but he was losing power. Hot air swirled around his head.

He pulled into the slow lane and semis began to overtake him. Finally, he turned off onto the narrow, dusty shoulder, but only when steam began to rise off the hood with every raindrop. The Jeep ground to a stop.

Rick got out of the car and stood on the edge of the highway. Cold summer rain pelted his sweat-stained dress shirt and trucks kicked up long plumes of water, but he was unfazed. No one could reach him here, 10 miles from Winslow. The black clouds over the Peaks looked like a rising apocalypse to him. But to the east, beyond Holbrook and the Petrified Forest, blue skis beckoned.

He popped the hood and let the rain calm the engine’s fire while he sat on a rock, listening to the static hiss of the radio and watching the clouds drift.

— 30 —

I’m a writer and photographer in Flagstaff, AZ. You can follow my exploits on the Twitter machine at @jonnyeberle. Please feel free to leave a comment. Have you ever wanted to run away?

The Sharp Sting

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Writing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

am writing, bee, creative writing, disappointment, fiction, future, literary journal, metaphor, personal reflection, rejected, rejection, sting, story, submission, writing, Writing Life

“The editors have carefully read your submission, but we regret that it does not meet our current needs.”

Ouch. Rejection hurts. It hurts because it’s personal. My writing is a part of me; the story an extension of my life story. And when someone turns it down, it gouges a neat little hole in my ego.

Rejection is a bee, buzzing around your head, daring you to swat at it — to attempt a submission and risk failure. Sometimes, you get away with it, but the majority of the time, you get stung. The sting is sharp and it makes you question whether you should’ve gone outside at all.

Right now, I’m disappointed that this lit journal is passing on my story. But I can’t let the sting keep me from trying again. This is the nature of the writing business — you can’t succeed without a few failures. So, I’m putting some ice on my pride. I’m going to edit the story and submit again. And again and again until someone publishes it.

While a sting is painful, you can either be conquered by it or motivated by it. I choose the latter.

— 30 —

I’m a writer and photographer living in Flagstaff, AZ, where the bees are starting to poke their heads out of their hives. You can catch the latest buzz on my Twitter feed, @jonnyeberle.

The Day Cursive Died

04 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by Jonny Eberle in Rants, The Future, Writing

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

am writing, checks, cursive, death of cursive, education, future, handwriting, nostalgia, past, penmanship, personal reflection, rant, reading, signature, writing, Writing Life

I remember my third grade teacher, Mrs. Hubbard, telling me that in middle school, I would only be allowed to write in cursive. This wasn’t very comforting to the kid who struggled with capital G’s and S’s. Still, I was assured that print would be forbidden beyond the gates of my elementary school. As I learned the swoops, curves and loops of cursive writing, I knew that I was learning one of the great secrets of adulthood.

When I got to middle school, I only had one teacher who demanded cursive penmanship on assignments. The rest wanted everything printed, because most people’s cursive was illegible. I was again promised that cursive was the standard in high school. But in high school, none of my teachers allowed cursive on homework assignments. By then, documents typed on a computer had become preferred.

It’s strange how the world has changed. We write by hand so very rarely now. Cursive is now relegated to signature lines and checkbooks. Even there, cursive is losing its hold, as more and more people sign with squiggles and write checks in block letters.

School districts and increasingly ditching cursive for typing in their curricula (46 states no longer require it). The computer is mightier than the pen in today’s world. While fast typists may be preferable in the 21st century, I feel a pang of nostalgia for handwriting.

My cursive is bad, but I’m glad I know how to do it. Not only is it quick — far faster than I can type — it is a signal of maturity and professionalism. If we lose it, we’ll not only lose a wonderful art form, we’ll also lose the ability to read the documents, letters and journals of the past.

I hope cursive survives. Learning it was awful, but losing this beautiful, efficient script and the raw connection to the page would be a tragedy.

— 30 —

Jonny Eberle is a writer and photographer in Flagstaff, AZ. You can comment here and follow him on Twitter: @jonnyeberle.

J.W. Eberle

No Moment Too Small

The First Rights Problem

The Thing That Keeps Us Going

A Change of Place

Let Your Characters Speak for Themselves

A Time and Place for All Words

Flash Fiction Friday: Running Away

The Sharp Sting

The Day Cursive Died

Follow “J.W. Eberle”