Winter General Issue – Monstrous

Following the launch of each of our issues, we cajole one or more of the contributors into a mini interview with the Trash Cat.
Here they will reveal some writing wisdom and tell you what trash critter they identify with most. Important stuff like that.

Today, we have Charlie Kondek, author of the moving, introspective short story, Every Dog in our Winter issue. Read it HERE.

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Q: What piece of writing advice/ crafting rule would you trash?

A:  Gosh, I’m kind of a rule follower, to tell the truth. Sure, I’ve got my quibbles with Elmore Leonard, Kurt Vonnegut and even George Orwell, all of whom have famous “rules for writing” floating around there. But when I disagree with them I usually regard it as a simple stylistic difference. If someone doesn’t want to use adverbs, that’s up to them.
But one “rule” I’d like to disregard is the idea that a writer should be writing all the time. “Just keep the pen moving,” as Natalie Goldberg put it in Writing Down the Bones. I think it’s okay to not write, to let a story or character cook a little more in the oven of your brain. Was just Twittering about this with the writer Brecht De Poortere (brechtdepoortere.com) the other day, the idea that you can still be “writing” while walking the dog or sitting quietly or going about your day.

Q: Which writers and magazines do you go to to find treasure to read?

A: Speaking of Twitter—I’ll never call it X—Elon Musk is doing his best to ruin the thing, but it’s been invaluable in helping me find publications, writers and individual pieces. Connecting with other writers and reading their works or the works they share is one way. Some mags themselves are very good at using social media, not just Twitter but Instagram and whatever else. Trash Cat Lit has become a favorite, not just for the content but your adept use of social. I know when I see that little garbage bandit pop up in my feed, it’s found something good!

But if I may call out a few of the other online mags I consistently go to, they’ll include BULL (mrbullbull.com). Ben Drevlow, the writer and publisher, just puts out one great piece after another. Another is Yellow Mama (blackpetalsks.tripod.com/yellowmama). I write in two genres, general “literary” fiction and crime, and Yellow Mama’s editor and publisher, Cindy Rosmus, is a really valuable leader in the crime writing community that consistently puts out little macabre treasures. Last, I love writing about the Midwestern United States, where I’m from, and consider myself a Midwestern writer. I’ve fallen in love with a pub called Great Lakes Review (greatlakesreview.org), which just has so many great regional writers contributing delightful 2,000-word pieces. I’ve had work in BULL and Yellow Mama and am thrilled to say I’m forthcoming in Great Lakes Review! 

Q: What trash animal do you most identify with?

A: This is a hilarious question. I think… one of those moronic black bears in Michigan’s state parks  that has forgotten it’s not supposed to mingle with humans. It stumbles into your campsite to dig through your supplies and runs away confused when you shout at it after chewing through a case of beer. Hahaha!

Q: When your writing mojo is trashed, how do you recharge?

A: Hmmm. Well, I’m religious, and regard art as a gift from God, so for starters I pray, or try to realign myself to the perspective that what I am doing is sacred. But also, I write short stories, and I go back to masters of the form and writers that are my favorites. These include Guy de Maupassant, Somerset Maugham, John O’Hara, Updike and Cheever. Can’t say enough about de Maupassant, and I often ask myself, when I’m stuck, WWGDMD—what would Guy de Maupassant do? De Maupassant is often lauded for his ability to produce O. Henry-ish twists, but his stories are not always like that. Sometimes the twist is not “the necklace you thought was expensive is in fact a cheap forgery!” but “in a room full of French citizens, the only one with any integrity was the prostitute.” De Maupassant was great at getting a handle on what a story is really about and centering it. To replenish, I spend time with de Maupassant especially.

Q: If you could offer three tips to writing short treasures, what would they be?

A:  Gosh, I’m still learning and don’t feel qualified to give advice. But here goes.
1. Um, as stated above, figure out what your story is about and center it. I wrote a story recently about a heist, but the center for me is that the main character had an off-ramp to his participation in the crime, and didn’t take it. The story was about missing the exit and instead riding the highway to its catastrophic conclusion. 

2. Let’s see… oh! Read poetry. I am not a poet, but I love poetry, and make an effort to read it as much as I can. Whatever your style, plain, florid, or something in between, we all have to make sentences, and poets are masters at putting words together, of rhythm, of saying a lot in a short space. Robert Pinski calls poetry a “technology.” Poets have much to teach and inspire us with their technology.

3. Last, tell your story out loud to someone, or yourself, the way you might tell someone an anecdote. Tell the story while you’re still developing it, the way you would tell any other story in your own spoken vernacular. It may begin, “So there’s this guy, and the guy…” And it may include, “I want to have this moment where…” And it may end, who knows? “So in the end, what I think is the takeaway is…” This can help you nail down the plot or discover its centering characteristics.

Q: What is one thing, if spotted in a crowded thrift store, you would just have to buy?

A: Ha! I have a cocktail ware problem. With records, or books, I can usually practice a little restraint, but a charming rocks glass or martini glass or coupe? A set of three with the fourth missing? I covet them. Orphaned 1970s coffee cups are also a weakness. I am always happy when one breaks because it gives me an excuse to prowl Value World looking for more.

Charlie Kondek is a marketing professional and short story writer. His work has appeared at Black Cat Weekly, The Saturday Evening Post, Hoosier Noir, BULL, and elsewhere. More at CharlieKondekWrites.com.