Hot Flash Friday=Pain + Time
I was listening to an interview on Fresh Air with Garry Marshall (re-aired since he just passed) about
his career writing comedy and for TV and movies. He is best known for
developing and writing for Happy Days
among others. He said something interesting: time + pain=comedy. We’re always
looking for that elusive creative spark.
Sometimes it is simply butt in chair. Sitting down and
writing. Spending time with your material. This is not sexy advice. We always
wish for the “secret,” the inside scoop, the magic formula. But often it comes
with a prosaic thud. Live life, write about life. That’s it.
He said when looking for material he went back to an
embarrassing moment. As a boy he would never take off his shirt at the beach
because once his mother said you have so many moles. I bet I can connect the
dots. Thereafter he was self-conscious about his moles and freckles. Later he
would turn this into a famous episode on the Dick Van Dyke Show, the one where Rob falls asleep on the couch and
his son (Ritchie?) comes in and connects the dots with an ink pen. Laura
discovers that Rob’s freckles form a facsimile of the Liberty Bell. He ends up
appearing on “Reality” TV show, “Odd But True.”
This is exactly what I say in my flash memoir seminars: mine
memories from your own life. Riff on stuff from your childhood, and sometimes
the pain from the past becomes your most compelling material.
Let’s look at an example. A detail became the basis for a short
short 100-word flash. A woman slipping her cellphone into her bra. I took that
thought and crafted/flashed a piece called Granny’s
Pockets about someone who grew up referring to boobs as pockets because her
grandmother was constantly tucking things away down the front of her dress. I
wrote it, researched 100-word story journals, submitted the piece, had it
accepted, and ONLINE within a few hours. Really.
That was a record and gave me a real boost. (I boast.)
Right now write a flash based upon some fledgling memory
from your childhood, suppressed pain, the stuff of nightmares and turn it into
a narrative. Revisiting these memories might make for horror, comedy, or
slice-of-life- anecdotal flash. Give it a try.
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| Odd but True |
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