A Goodreads user
asked
Jason Howell:
Hi Jason: Where did the idea for your story, Dirty Box of Pandora, come from? Was there some image that got the creative juices flowing? Or did you start with a theme/idea?
Jason Howell
I was reading a lot of threads in relationship forums online at the time -- people discussing problems with their marriages, infidelity issues, sexual issues, emotional affairs, grievances, and so on. It's actually extremely emotionally charged, naked writing -- folks reaching out to strangers anonymously in desperate states of confusion about the most intimate parts of their lives.
But the thing is, these people aren't natural writers (for the most part), so you wind up being moved by these stories made of ad hoc spelling, bent syntax, and all around non-eloquence, which I thought was pretty interesting.
So I wanted to take the discussion thread form and see if it could work for short fiction; but I also wanted to take the sort of sloppy everyday language I was seeing and exaggerate it -- see how jagged I could get it and still have the character's voice be emotive and transparent to something.
The opening line came out:
"Please excuse. Never before will I whine like this."
And the Yakov character just kind of grew from there.
Killer question Shelley. Hope that was some kind of an answer.
But the thing is, these people aren't natural writers (for the most part), so you wind up being moved by these stories made of ad hoc spelling, bent syntax, and all around non-eloquence, which I thought was pretty interesting.
So I wanted to take the discussion thread form and see if it could work for short fiction; but I also wanted to take the sort of sloppy everyday language I was seeing and exaggerate it -- see how jagged I could get it and still have the character's voice be emotive and transparent to something.
The opening line came out:
"Please excuse. Never before will I whine like this."
And the Yakov character just kind of grew from there.
Killer question Shelley. Hope that was some kind of an answer.
More Answered Questions
Shannon Peel
asked
Jason Howell:
The gamification of promoting oneself and their books can inspire motivation to keep trying; to keep adding to their following, their ratings, and their reviews. As a writer what goals do you measure and how do you use gamification to motivate yourself to keep going?
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