A.C. Ahn's Blog, page 13
January 24, 2015
Conversation Exercise: No Tears For Old Men
“I wanna cry.” “Why?” “I don’t know. I just… I just feel the tears backing up.” “Okay, can you elaborate a little? How do you feel right now?” “I already told you, I feel tears in my eyes.” “You have to talk to me, Greg. I can’t read your mind, you know.” “What do you […]
January 19, 2015
Thoughts on Uncovering the Fossil
This is something I struggle with a lot when starting a new story. When I was writing Hydrangeas on Fire, I had general ideas for what should happen in each chapter, so uncovering the fossil came naturally then. But, with short stories, it takes me a while to decide where I should start digging. It is […]
January 17, 2015
The Rooster
I finished and submitted a second story today, and it ended up turning out a lot better than I expected. Initially, I began writing about a young woman first arriving at the shores of New York City from an impoverished nation somewhere in Europe, but beyond that, a story (the meat) just wouldn’t develop in my […]
January 12, 2015
Warm Up
“Get in.” She reaches over and opens the passenger side door. But James continues walking as if pretending to not hear or see her. “I said, get in.” This time she’s sure he’s heard her. Without slowing or stopping, James glances at her from the corners of his eyes and starts to sprint along the side of […]
Across the Sea
She moves along with the throng, keeping her head low, both frightened and ashamed as her tattered feet make contact with the foreign soil. Her eyes take a cursory glance up ahead at the skyscrapers littering the skyline, only to cower underneath her heavy eyelids. Her traditional garb is all the protection she has against […]
January 11, 2015
God’s Quotes on Writing
“I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.” ― William Faulkner “Read, read, read. Read everything — trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If […]
December 30, 2014
Here Nor There
“I can’t eat meat. Why do you keep making me repeat that?” Her shrill voice string up my shoulders like a wooden puppet. “Alright, alright, jeez. Let’s get seafood then. Seafood’s okay, right?” Her silence indicates her rare approval. When we arrive at the seafood restaurant, she takes one look inside and turns away. The […]
December 25, 2014
Congratulations!
In the late night of December 22nd, I decided to take a break from Korean films to watch a British drama/comedy, Happy-Go-Lucky. I picked out this movie because it stars one of my favorite Hollywood actress, Sally Hawkins. (I thought she was amazing in Blue Jasmine, but let me stop myself and save this for another […]
