The Weekly Atticus (05/19/2018)

Find Your Forgotten Frankensteins | The Weekly Atticus

A recap of the week at Atticus Review, along with some extras.

Dear ,

Last week Nonfiction Editor Chauna Craig opened The Weekly Atticus with a call to spring clean our abandoned writing files. She wrote of finding a number of pieces in her own files that were close to being done, of polishing one of those pieces and sending it out into the world. I have pieces like that. I’ve had the experience of rediscovering writing I’d put aside for so long that I’d forgotten about it, writing that, with the benefit of that distance, I was then able to see more clearly and so finish it over the course of an evening or a few days and send it out. It’s a fantastic feeling, like finding a crumpled twenty dollar bill in the pocket of an old coat you haven’t worn in years.But what if your files are full of pieces that are a long ways from being done? What if some (many?) of those pieces have been in the works for years? A decade and a half even? If you’re like me, the bulk of your writing files are not so immediately fruitful as the piece that needs just a little polish and then it’s ready to fly out the door. Some of these pieces I put aside so I could work on another piece that demanded more immediate attention. Others, because I was spinning my wheels or was starting to hate them. And then there are the stories that I have revised so many times in such radically different ways that the various drafts are monstrosities of the original. They share many recognizable traits, but they are also wildly, weirdly different from one another. These are the stories that give me the most anxiety. I feel like Dr. Frankenstein. I wonder if continuing to work on these stories is an exercise in futility, or worse, a kind of madness. Is this newest incarnation an improvement or is it just different? Will I ever be satisfied with this story? How do I know I’m not just wasting my time?About five weeks ago, I dusted off a fifteen-year-old story, the oldest one in the bunch. It’s been the focus of much of my writing time since. I’ve cut sentences; rearranged sentences; added many, many sentences. I’m hopeful, as I have been every other time I’ve resurrected it from my files, that this time I’m going to finish this story. Whether I will remains to be seen.Maybe working on this story yet again isn’t the most efficient use of my writing time, but here’s the thing: I come back to this story because it speaks to me. Because there’s just something about it that won’t allow me to let it go. I believe in it. I won’t give up on it, not even after fifteen years. I have faith that the story will eventually come together because I’ve been down this path a few times before. The first flash fiction I ever finished took me a couple of years to get right. Another piece, a 2500-word story in my book, took me eight years, and I was close to giving up on it so many times. Finishing that story was one of the most triumphant writing experiences I’ve ever had, in large part because the story demanded such great perseverance. I gained confidence as a result and learned that, yes, perseverance really does pay off. Finding a crumpled twenty dollar bill in a coat pocket pales in comparison. Thanks for reading. We’re glad you’re here.Michelle RossFiction Editor

ATTICUS NEWS

WANTED: CNF READERJoin the Atticus Team! We have a space open for a creative nonfiction reader! This is a wonderful volunteer opportunity for someone with a passion for creative nonfiction to work with our brilliant CNF editor Chauna Craig and the lit-loving Atticus Review team.FIND OUT HOW TO APPLY

THE FIRST ANNUAL ATTICUS REVIEW FLASH CNF CONTEST!We're now accepting submissions for our first Annual Flash CNF Contest, judged by Sarah Gerard. Send us your best CNF under 1000 words. First prize is $275, a copy of our Print Annual, and publication in Atticus Review. SUBMIT NOW

THIS WEEK AT ATTICUS

FERAL TOWN by Adam Gustavson

BOOK REVIEW: THE TRANSCENDENCE OF MEMORYA Review of SKY COUNTRY by Christine KitanoReview by P.J. Dominiski"...sophisticated and original."READ ON

FICTION: ALLES KLAR, HERR KOMMISSARby Robert Kerbeck"'I want one of them giant beers,' said his father-in-law, Clyde, not cranky for the first time that day. The beer stein in the window was the reason they’d stopped, since alcohol seemed to be the only thing that made the old man happy."READ ON

POETRY: WHY DO YOU PUNCH COPS?by Jason Hyde"that stack of paperdon’t say shiti punch everyone"READ ON

CNF: SATELLITE MINDby Kristine Langley MahlerThe latest in our Superunknown: Stories About Songs series"I developed elaborate, compulsive, ritualized behaviors I was certain would, eventually, call their attention. Memorizing class schedules to determine his route through the halls, messaging on the anniversary of his first email, winding my car window down as I drove by his house, blasting a song that said what I would not."READ ON

MIXED MEDIA: EVERYWHERE WEST A videopoem collaboration by Chris Green and Mark Neumann. Features a poem inspired by images made of a drive from Arizona to Maine.READ ON

FILM REVIEW: A TRUE AMERICAN CULTA review of Netflix's Wild Wild Country directed by Maclain and Chapman WayReview by Alison Lanier"I encourage everyone to go wandering with this extraordinary and empathetic narrative. It’s storytelling the way I haven’t seen on screen in some time."READ ON

SUPPORT ATTICUS!

When you

, at the Developer level and above, you'll get our Atticus Review Print Annual. 

You can also

.

We are funded entirely through voluntary contributions from writers and readers.