Photos from Sofer!

Here are a few photos from the Sofer weekend.

Top: Jason Sommer; Middle: Aaron Hamburger; Bottom: Dara Horn. (On a side note, I'm hoping we get to read the Dara's new story "Shteytl World" again some time soon!)

Cheap Tricks

The idea of the "cheap trick," Dara's loving terms for a key element of stories, is one I've been thinking about all week, especially with the books being read in my school. I conferenced with a student about The Great Gatsby and we talked about the death of Myrtle as a turning point in the story. In my class, we're reading The Stranger, and there part one ends with the famous "Killing an Arab" scene. I keep thinking about how to add elements like this into my stories, and not be afraid of making things up, as Dara urged. How do other people do this? How do you come up with ideas for how to move the plot ahead?

Suggested Reading

I came back from the weekend with a notebook filled with suggestions for books and poems to read next. The one that leaps to mind first is Tevye the Dairyman and The Railroad Stories, by Shalom Aleichem. Dara mentioned it in her workshop when David shared his writing about the tattooed man next to him on the plane, and how it made him a part of the great literary tradition of writing the stories of the people met while traveling. I'm looking forward to reading it soon! What else was recommended to you during the weekend?