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Uncategorized

Look of Love

G wanted to be the princess. The six of us—him, me, and the girls—were goofing around in the church basement while our parents sat upstairs drinking coffee and talking too…

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February 14, 2020
Old Work, Uncategorized

Child of Frankenstein

letter one Dear lost soul,  When you discover this, may you find comprehension of what I once was.                                                                                                                                           October 2nd, 1890        I am greeted with the brisk autumnal breeze as…

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May 17, 2021
Old Work, Uncategorized

The perpetually learning mom…

Dear Blog reader, My name is Rosse Mary and I am a 40-year-old undergrad college student.  Adding to that and not surprisingly I am also a mom of three, a…

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February 25, 2021
  • Old Work,  Uncategorized

    Write the Story in Your Head

    December 3, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    Rock Reading Tuesdays

    April 21, 2021

    Death Before Dishonor #MurderMysteryMonday

    March 16, 2021

    80 miles From Charlotte #MurderMysteryMonday

    March 9, 2021
  • Old Work,  Uncategorized

    #TerrorThursday

    December 2, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    The perpetually learning mom…

    March 26, 2021

    The Basics: Sofrito!

    February 26, 2021

    The Bind, torture (attention seeking) killer who wasn’t as smart as he thought

    April 6, 2021
  • Old Work,  Uncategorized

    Looking Around

    November 20, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    February 25, 2021

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    March 19, 2021

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    Perfection is the Voice of the Oppressor

    November 13, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    Flán de Leche

    May 14, 2021

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    May 5, 2021

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    March 5, 2021
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    Get Out of Your Way

    November 6, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    February 25, 2021

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    #TerrorThursdays! pt. I

    October 28, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    The Jibarito Sandwich!

    March 19, 2021

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    March 19, 2021

    The Valentine’s Day Murder #MurderMysteryMonday

    March 1, 2021
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    Childhood Creativity Blooming into Adulthood

    October 25, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    April 7, 2021

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    The Bind, torture (attention seeking) killer who wasn’t as smart as he thought

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    The Place Where There is No Darkness

    October 22, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    CONFESSIONS OF A CHARACTER FREAK

    March 22, 2021

    The Valentine’s Day Murder #MurderMysteryMonday

    March 1, 2021

    Rock Reading Tuesdays

    April 21, 2021
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    #TerrorThursdays!

    October 21, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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    CONFESSIONS OF A CHARACTER FREAK

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    April 23, 2021

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    March 17, 2021
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    “Hey My Love. Blue Tail. Tail Fly.”

    October 15, 2021 / 0 Comments
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    Erika Lewis

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 Older Posts
 Thomas Benke: Looking Around

In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott, in the Chapter “Looking Around,” says this: 

Now, if you ask me, what’s going on is that we’re all up to here in it, and probably the most important thing is that we not yell at one another. Otherwise we’d all just be barking away like Pekingese: “Ah! Stuck in the shit! And it’s your fault, you did this …” Writing involves seeing people suffer and, as Robert Stone once put it, finding some meaning therein. But you can’t do that if you’re not respectful. If you look at people and just see sloppy clothes or rich clothes, you’re going to get them wrong.

She goes on to speak about empathy for other people and also, as an extension empathy for yourself. So, in a sense as you try to write believable, relatable characters, you will come to forgive people their trespasses—because no one believes they are the villain of their story, so you have to write “bad,” or “evil” characters from a point of view where they rationalize what they are doing in such a way that it is the right or only way they see is possible.  By extrapolation, then, if you begin to forgive and withhold judgment from your less-than-desirable, or annoying characters, perhaps you can extend the same courtesy to yourself and forgive your own trespasses and sins. This, for me, starts to enter the realm of “writing as therapy,” and though I am a firm believer in that—I practice it to this very day—I think I would caution anyone who thinks that simply writing through things is going to lead you to a place of light and love. I am not saying it can’t by any means. What I am saying is I have wrote through my thoughts and my problems and my desperation and depression for decades and I still had enough baggage on my shoulders to supply an army platoon with rations for a year. 

In any case, when thinking about craft, it is very important to step into the shoes of all of your characters, especially those characters that you see as antagonists and villians. I believe there are very few universal maxims in writing but one thing is virtually certain: every character you write is your version of that human being. Confucius said “everywhere I go, there I am,” and that is never more true than when you are writing. So if you are writing a character that is distasteful to you, it might be effective for you to ask yourself why that is the case. I wrote a blog for Obscura last semester titled, “The Puppy Had It Coming.” The gist of the article was to pose a puzzle to writers. How can you write a scene where an adult human kicks a puppy across the room and the reader at least understands why. I am not saying there is any way to justify the action or for the readers to be on the human’s side unless they are sociopaths. I am saying you need let the reader know how dark the place is in the character’s mind that he is capable of doing that. 

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