"... it is possible that stories are creatures with their own lives and that they exist in the shadows of some mysterious dimesnsion; in that case it will be either a question of opening so they may enter, sink into me, and grow until they are ready to emerge transfored into language."
Short story writer James Salter, interviewed by salon.com says:
Short stories, sometimes you tear them out of the beak of life, so to speak. And sometimes they simply are lying there on the ground to pick up. You may have a certain idea for a story you have to tell, but the story didn't exist before because it wasn't lived by somebody else -- you constructed it yourself. Some stories come completely assembled and ready to go. Otherwise it may be like one of those nightmare Christmas toys where they say "everything is included but the battery and assembly required." You may spend hours and hours feverishly trying to make something of it.
And he talks about one magical occasion when he just sat down to write and a complete short story simply poured out onto his page:
There is one such story in this present book that was written in the morning. And that is "Bangkok." I had a start. I had two lines that someone had told me over the telephone -- "Weren't you going to call me back?" "Of course not." I began with those two lines and just knew the rest of it. I knew the people. I was able to write the story.
You don't have to "think up" anything. The stories are there waiting for you.
And if you feel inspired to write this weekend, why not pick up those two lines of Salter's and run with them?
