Jacob Lawrence, The Studio (1977)

This writing is a daily workbook for fiction emphasizing formal experimentation. "Blogging as Cubism" explains.

Several of these pieces have appeared in online literary 'zines, including Comrades, Physik Garden, The SoMa Literary Review, Big Bridge, Inkburns, Word Riot, Epiphany, and others. During the month of November 2002, The Blue Moon Review linked to them as their first-ever "Guest Blog." These are among the best lit pubs on the 'net. Totally rad.

Here's the publication history.

Here's a grouping of strong pieces.

Here's some more experimental fiction, often based on the same techniques.

Click here to E-mail this page to a friend.

"My skewed vision was that of a man looking at himself by looking at what he looks at."
--William Least Heat-Moon, Blue Highways

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March 15, 2009:

There's a very large flat panel HDTV in this hotel room. Eight feet wide. Extremely sharp. The film is satirical, something similar to Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Exaggerated imagery. A character falls head-first on its desk, looking almost as though it will spill from the screen onto the hotel room floor. "Wide angle lens," you think to yourself.

March 14, 2009:

Partings.

Love someone: now they're gone. Through conflict, career, death.

"There is a realm where there is neither solid nor world. This I call the end of suffering." - Buddha

March 13, 2009:

Shopping cart in a hilly parking lot. Motorized. Silly fun: point your camera at yourself, take your picture tooling around the blacktop, near the dumpsters and the loading docks which the public rarely sees.

March 12, 2009: I was her "happy place".
March 11, 2009: eBay Q&A:
March 10, 2009: I missed the ship to Turkey.
March 9, 2009: Objects.
March 8, 2009: On stage with a band of musician friends.
March 7, 2009: Email from far away.
March 6, 2009: Her photo on Facebook.
March 5, 2009: Try, fail, sleep.
March 4, 2009: I wonder sometimes whether her life would have been different if I'd had children.
March 3, 2009: He never spoke of his experiences.
March 2, 2009: This isn't Idaho.
March 1, 2009: Long while without word.

February 28, 2009: There's still time to make it back to school for your morning presentation.
February 27, 2009: I have his photo now.
February 26, 2009: Gunshots.
February 25, 2009: His photo in a wooden frame.
February 24, 2009: I saw his fingers tremble at the ticket counter.
February 23, 2009: Unfocused, listless, scattered.
February 22, 2009: Good man, good heart.
February 21, 2009: Buffet: trays of muffins under heat lamps.
February 20, 2009: Patience, you. Patience you.
February 19, 2009: Special Forces school.
February 18, 2009: I gave up.
February 17, 2009: Travel in Europe, with a strange girl you barely know.
February 16, 2009: Familiarity breeds contempt.
February 15, 2009: Stolen motorcycle.
February 14, 2009: Cinderella.
February 13, 2009: You've joined the Special Forces.
February 12, 2009: I wanted her to be proud of me.
February 11, 2009: Walk in La Jolla.
February 10, 2009: I miss you very much.
February 9, 2009: The two of you are living in your childhood apartment.
February 8, 2009: Pudgy kid with a pageboy haircut pulls a wheel from a portable barbecue...
February 7, 2009: A cup of wine on the table.
February 6, 2009: I am a chauffeur, and a checkbook.
February 5, 2009: "How long has it been since you worked, ten years, then?"
February 4, 2009: I need to move forward.
February 3, 2009: Women huddle around the photos, nodding, pointing.
February 2, 2009: Older woman, unhappy about her age...
February 1, 2009: Confused.

2009 Jan