The Imaginaries
I've been writing since I was a kid. My first "real" story--beginning, middle, end--was written when I was about ten, sitting on a tall kitchen stool with my school notebook paper and a bold red pen. It was a mystery that took place in Hawaii, of all places; I had a bit of familiarity with Oahu as my mom's sister and family lived there and we'd gone to visit them when I was eight. Still, looking back, it seems pretty ambitious to write a mystery in an exotic locale like that. I don't remember the plot exactly, but I managed the whole story in under six pages.
Time goes by. I discover an old book of O. Henry stories, by chance one rainy day in Portland, at Powell's bookstore--back when you had to slip between the tall pillars of used books stacked on the floor at the ends of each aisle, the intoxicating smell of old paper and dusty attics and words, wafting everywhere. It's different now, all modern and clean, but still one of the great bookstores, to my mind. Anyway, I was about 16 or so at the time and devoured that book (which I still have). I had found my genre and my inspiration.
I love short stories. The skill in writing a whole, complete world in just a few pages is exciting, sometimes even exhilarating. I have many favorite short story writers: Stephen King, O. Henry, Tom Hanks, Ray Bradbury, Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Dorothy Parker...ah, the list goes on and on. When I started writing as an adult, I loved trying to compress a solid plot into as few words as possible...and always looked for a way to add that surprise twist at the end.
Last month, I happened upon an article about this stunning little book called The Imaginaries, Little Scraps of Larger Stories. It is supposedly for children--or those of us still children at heart--written by Emily Winfield Martin. To quote from the book description:
"Best-selling author/illustrator of The Wonderful Things You Will Be, Emily Winfield Martin, shares her "Imaginaries": paintings from over the last ten years, captioned with one enigmatic sentence, designed to inspire"
Oh, I was so intrigued! In the past, I have often jotted down one or two sentence "plots" for my stories. Sometimes it's just a random thing that's popped into my head, or a picture my mind conjures that I note for a possible story later on. I went to Amazon, found the book, and clicked on the "See Inside" button. After reading her Intro page, I immediately ordered the book. Here was a kindred spirit.
When it arrived, I sat right down and read it from start to finish. This little gem is just delightful and beautiful and inspiring. From all these tiny scraps that Emily has gathered over the past ten years, she then imagined, and painted.
Here are a few:
Click on each photo to see the paintings, and the scraps of inspiration that led to them.
I've been totally captivated by her collection of words and art. What a wonderful little book. Stories are percolating in my mind even as I write this...
Time goes by. I discover an old book of O. Henry stories, by chance one rainy day in Portland, at Powell's bookstore--back when you had to slip between the tall pillars of used books stacked on the floor at the ends of each aisle, the intoxicating smell of old paper and dusty attics and words, wafting everywhere. It's different now, all modern and clean, but still one of the great bookstores, to my mind. Anyway, I was about 16 or so at the time and devoured that book (which I still have). I had found my genre and my inspiration.
I love short stories. The skill in writing a whole, complete world in just a few pages is exciting, sometimes even exhilarating. I have many favorite short story writers: Stephen King, O. Henry, Tom Hanks, Ray Bradbury, Hemingway, Oscar Wilde, Vonnegut, Neil Gaiman, Dorothy Parker...ah, the list goes on and on. When I started writing as an adult, I loved trying to compress a solid plot into as few words as possible...and always looked for a way to add that surprise twist at the end.
Last month, I happened upon an article about this stunning little book called The Imaginaries, Little Scraps of Larger Stories. It is supposedly for children--or those of us still children at heart--written by Emily Winfield Martin. To quote from the book description:
"Best-selling author/illustrator of The Wonderful Things You Will Be, Emily Winfield Martin, shares her "Imaginaries": paintings from over the last ten years, captioned with one enigmatic sentence, designed to inspire"
Oh, I was so intrigued! In the past, I have often jotted down one or two sentence "plots" for my stories. Sometimes it's just a random thing that's popped into my head, or a picture my mind conjures that I note for a possible story later on. I went to Amazon, found the book, and clicked on the "See Inside" button. After reading her Intro page, I immediately ordered the book. Here was a kindred spirit.
When it arrived, I sat right down and read it from start to finish. This little gem is just delightful and beautiful and inspiring. From all these tiny scraps that Emily has gathered over the past ten years, she then imagined, and painted.
Here are a few:
"Her heart was the kind that beat
like bird's wings"
"The museum didn't know
which one was magic"
 |
"She never told anyone what she
saw at the edge of the world"
I've been totally captivated by her collection of words and art. What a wonderful little book. Stories are percolating in my mind even as I write this...
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