Fragments and Fictions. Turn Mosaics into Story

"I feel that old surge come back, that seizing of my own life on my own terms. It is such a physical thing."  

- Pam Houston from Contents May have Shifted: A Novel

Five years ago, author-educator Pam Houston approached a challenge to write something new that had never been tried or tested. She had to read it aloud to an audience of about a thousand.  Houston presented her ideas at an evening called "Unveiled" at the Wisconsin Book Festival in Madison.

Houston's focus involved, Write down all of the things out in the world that have arrested your attention lately, that have glimmered at you in some resonant way. Set them next to each other and see what happens.

After she started writing on the plane and at the hotel, Houston produced 12 tiny scenes. She needed a slice of Wisconsin so left her hotel room, sat on a street corner and waited for something to happen.

When Houston continued writing this way, Contents May have Shifted: A Novel resulted. 

Naming her protagonist, Pam, she combines vignettes of airplane stress with dreams, boyfriends and dialogues. The narrative feels like the author's life and one of an embellished character. She adds events with girl friends and their suggestions for her character's emotional states. Nature trips along with exotic travel add to the mosaic. Childhood trauma appears along with situations at writing seminars.

To her fragments, Houston adds fictions which hopscotch one another and reach back to catch earlier threads. Each vignette ends with a wonder or wow. She claims 80% is "true."

Pam Houston's "shattered narrative" provides the immediacy of daily experience with memory and dream. As it dislocates the reader, it also feels like the way we live and think.

Creative Write: Explore a new area of writing. Play with the notions of short paragraphs that respond to one another. Choose five areas to revolve.

Areas to consider: 

l.    A life theme that repeats.
2.   Relationships revealed in dialogue.
3.   Adventure or travel scenes.
4.   Dream sequences.
5.   Emotions that run through your life.
6.   Childhood events and reflections.
7.   Animals and pets.
8.   Food. Influence of dining experiences.
9.   The details of nature.
10.  Influences of the unexpected

Start your narrative with short paragraphs of fact. React to them with fiction.

When you have completed a paragraph in each area add a fictional response. Revolve from paragraph to paragraph as you respond and add to each area.

As Houston recommends, set them next to each other. Let them play out.