Are You the Villain You're Looking For? (Amber Intro) (06/22/2019)

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Recently, poet and founder of The Pink Door Writing Retreat, Rachel McKibbens, tweeted," I do not write to make your heart sing. I write to make it kneel." When I read the tweet, the corners of my mouth went down and my eyebrows went up in the expression I make when I’ve read something very true put very concisely. I do write to make readers’ hearts kneel — with grief, heartbreak, dismay. I have several of these moments planned for my novel, and I can’t wait for my reader to come upon them. It really is the worst sort of evil, and I find it incredibly delicious. I’m looking forward to my first-reader’s crumpled-face response with the same gleamy-eyed anticipation I usually reserve for rich cakes with raspberry sauce. But let’s unpack kneel.If we want our reader to kneel, as in collapse, as I must admit I do, then we are necessarily wanting our reader to experience pain, sadness, dismay, or, at the very least, frustration. In other words, we enjoy creating tension in the work, most often achieved by the introduction of a villain. This villain could be typical in form — a character taking a human shape, presumably with a mustache. Or this villain could be circumstance, situation, fate. In any case, the writer needs to be one with the villain to varying degrees, depending on how happy or unhappy or reality-based their ending may be. In order to create a story with any sort of tension, we must have some ability to tap into the antagonist. We have to be able to imagine the way a bad guy would think, speak, and move in order to get him down on paper. Is she based entirely on a school bully we knew in grade school? Is he the next door neighbor who left his dog out in the rain, chained up to a tree? Or is our antagonist a part of us? Are we touching a part of our own psyche? Because of the work I’ve been doing on my novel, I’ve come to relish my capacity to create tension — to hold space for it and not blink. I’ve also learned that the writer can learn to hold space for tension in their own (real) life, and to help others do the same. Whether you pen pretty stories or wipe out every beloved character you create (and their little dog too), make sure you’ re eager to affect your readers in some way — be it tears or giggles.And when you have, why don't you send it our way? Possibly for our CNF Contest.Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.Amber ShockleyAssistant Poetry Editor

ATTICUS NEWS

We're approaching the final weeks!Send us your best for the 2nd Annual CNF contest...Deadline is July 21st. First prize is $400!Judge: Ira Sukrungruang.

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

Sometimes you call a thing a thing because it's a thing.Discover this and other truths from Feral Town by Adam Gustavson ...ROBERT

BOOK REVIEWA GENTLE PLEA TO BE UNDERSTOODA Review of IN TRANSIT by Krys Malcolm BelcFrom The Cupboard PamphletReview by Michelle Junot"...raw at times, disorienting, and yet, powerfully authentic."READ ON

FICTIONTHEODORE VAN KIRK, LAST REMAININGCREW MEMBER OF ENOLA GAYby Gary Moshimer"Sleeping with her was just a dream. But he knew he had felt her cheek and held her strong back."READ ON

POETRYLAKE BOLSENA, ITALYby Ginger Hanchey"You can hold it, we said. The water takes away its edges. See? You can turn it over in yourhand."READ ON

POETRYBAPTISMby Emily Lake Hansen"A small child, in a garden of tall sunflowersand weeds, was it then I realized nothinggrew if you didn’t have a home?"READ ON

NONFICTIONREFLECTING POOL OUTSIDE THE ROTHKO CHAPELby Brooke Middlebrook"I sit here most Sunday afternoons because I’m two months in love and not sure what else to do."READ ON

NONFICTIONMILES TO GO BEFORE AUSTIN AND ME...SLEEPby Jim Hall"What if we could go back in time and find that unforgiving ending that has lingered for decades? That is what I accomplished with the completion of this film about the town mystery man...Austin."READ ON

NONFICTIONACTIVISM IN ACTIONA Review of Ava DuVernay's WHEN THEY SEE USby Olivia Funderburg"DuVernay tells this story not only to honor the Five’s experience, but to open the eyes of the public and inspire action."READ ON

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