11_22 Prompt to Page Morris
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[00:00:00] Carrie: Welcome to the Prompt to Page podcast, a partnership between the Jessamine County Public Library and the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. I'm your host, librarian and poet Carrie Green. Each episode we interview a published writer who shares their favorite writing prompt. Submit your response to the prompt for a chance to have it read on a future episode of the podcast.

Our guest today is Ellen Birkett Morris. Ellen is the author of Lost Girls, Winner of the Pen Craft Award and finalist for the Clara Johnson, Ian and Best Book Awards and the poetry chapbooks Surrender and Abide. Her work has appeared in Antioch Review, Shenandoah and South Carolina Review among other journals.

Morris received grants from the Elizabeth George Foundation and Kentucky Foundation for Women and a fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council. She holds an MFA from Queens University Charlotte. Welcome Ellen, and thanks for joining us. 

[00:01:06] Ellen: Hi, Carrie. Thanks so much for having me. 

[00:01:09] Carrie: So I read in an interview that you first knew you were a writer when you were in your mid thirties.

I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about your journey to becoming a writer. 

[00:01:23] Ellen: Yeah, absolutely. My father was a writer, so I saw writers and saw what that looked like. And, it really, as a kid, it looked very boring to me. He was just sitting at a computer while I was able to run around and do whatever I wanted.

But what it meant was that there were stories in our house and he read to us a lot. So I was always drawn to the written word and I took a series of jobs that were really ways into writing. Did freelance journalism and that sort of thing. And when I was in my mid thirties, I'd always been afraid to write creatively.

Mainly cuz I was afraid I was gonna fail. And when I was in my mid thirties, it struck me, if I don't do this now, I'll never do it. And so I decided to really try to get my courage up and give it a shot and, uh, it was the best choice I'd ever made. So . 

[00:02:13] Carrie: That's great. Yeah, I think it's really, there's kind of a myth that people start out young and that's not always the case.

[00:02:22] Ellen: Yeah, I mean, I was writing about other things for other people, things that had very little interest for me, and finally I was like, Oh my gosh, it's time to tell my own stories. 

[00:02:32] Carrie: Mm-hmm. 

So do writing prompts play a role in your writing process, and if so, how? 

[00:02:40] Ellen: You know, they do. I've, I've experienced some workshops, writing workshops that were sort of, prompt heavy, like the Kenyon Review Writer's workshop, which is really a generative workshop where they give you prompts and have you produce work while you're there, and then read it to people while you're there, which is kind of a hair set on fire,

exciting thing to do. I also a couple summers ago did the Vermont College Post Graduate workshop, and they offered some great prompts, one of which I'm gonna share today. And then, you know, I find for myself, when I feel stuck, I'll go and read a poem. or I'll go and read a really good short story and I'll think about how they did what they did, or how I might take either their topic or their form and do my own do my own take on it.

So. So prompts are really helpful that way. 

[00:03:32] Carrie: And I know you write in multiple genres and you use them equally across different genres? 

[00:03:39] Ellen: Yeah. Yeah, I would say that I do. In fact, today I brought not, not one, but three prompts, for people. So, yeah, it, it helps to do that. And you know, I just think it's a great, it's a great way

to ,it. You know, we get stuck, we all get stuck, or we get a little tired, and it's just a great way to sort of recharge and connect with something, something that you may not have connected with just right off the top of your head, So. 

[00:04:04] Carrie: Mm-hmm. . 

[00:04:05] Ellen: Yeah, it really works for me. 

[00:04:07] Carrie: You've got three prompts, so I think we should go ahead and get to them.

[00:04:12] Ellen: All right. The first one is a poetry prompt, and this came from that Vermont College workshop and, and it just struck me, it's just so melancholy and so real. And it is, If I could write you a happier ending, I would. And I, and I myself used it as the last line of a poem. , you know. I thought, Boy, if you end on that note, boom.

There we are. So, 

[00:04:40] Carrie: yeah. 

[00:04:40] Ellen: So that's, that's the poetry one. 

[00:04:43] Carrie: So there's a lot of different ways you could take that prompt. Like as you took it as the last line, but you could also maybe use it as a first line. Or you could just try and rewrite an ending that you've, that you've already written.

[00:05:03] Ellen: Absolutely. Yeah. There, there's so much possibility there. And, and that's what I loved about it. It just struck me, there are so many ways to go. 

[00:05:12] Carrie: Mm-hmm. . 

Okay. You wanna 

[00:05:13] Ellen: Sure, sure. I've got a short story prompt and, and this is something a friend of mine was talking about, taking the Kenyon workshop and working with the writer.

Nancy Zafris, who passed away I believe last year sadly. And so she said that Nancy talked about, you know, in stories, you give a detail, you repeat a detail. And you deepen the detail as you go along. And so I thought about this in reference to a story of my own that I wrote called Bottle Tree Blues.

And so, you know, a prompt for, for somebody might be to come up with an image or object. Mention it, give it, give it context, repeat it deepen it. And in Bottle Tree Blues, this girl's grandmother. She, her parents leave her with her grandmother, and she's very sad. And the grandmother to cheer the girl up creates a bottle tree.

She takes colored bottles and puts 'em on the end of a tree and she says, Listen to the sound, and you can hear the wind making the bottles. How? And she said, That's the sound of the wind carrying your sadness away. So it's planted. It's repeated. Later she shows her her alcoholic boyfriend, this bottle tree, and he says, Oh, that's just an old wives tale.

Then later, she's pregnant, she sees him with another woman. They're on the verge of breaking up. She comes home and he has placed all the bottles of alcohol on the branches of the bottle tree. But a, as a testament to say he's giving up that life in favor of life with her. So again, mention the detail, give it context, repeat it, and then deepen it.

So I thought that, and again, it's just a great way to get something specific, some object or some ritual in a story and, and use it as a springboard. I think it really helps me. Helps me find creative ways to answer the question of who are these people and what are they struggling with, and where will they end up?

And that visual depiction of that bottle with those bottles of Jim Beam and other things hanging off of it, I thought was really powerful. 

[00:07:25] Carrie: Mm-hmm. 

[00:07:25] Ellen: as a way to end the story. So thank you, Nancy Zafris. 

[00:07:30] Carrie: That also reminds me of Sarah Combs was on last month, and her prompt was to write down an emotion and an object to use as anchors as you're writing, which that sounds very similar to that.

It's just you have a, you're extending it a little bit. 

[00:07:51] Ellen: Right, Right. Yeah. Yeah. I, I, I, I do think I, you know, I think that we. Stories are so challenging that we need these things to anchor ourselves. And in fact, these objects and things play that same role in our lives. We, I could look around this room and find objects that have stories and meaning, and, and that I've carried through from one point in my life to another point in my life.

And, and so yeah, I really am attracted to those kinds of prompts as a way to tell a story. 

[00:08:22] Carrie: Mm. Okay. And then I think you have a food related writing prompt? 

[00:08:27] Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. And, and I share this, I'm, I'm teaching a class at the Carnegie on December 7th, called Savoring Your Words, Writing Your Food Traditions. And it'll be December 7th from six to eight.

It's gonna be online so you can join it from your own kitchen counter if you need to. And, and so this food prompt deals with sense and metaphor. And, and you know, in class I'm gonna be sharing a couple of different descriptions of food that I think are really evocative. So Ruth Riechl's book, Comfort Me with Apples, has a strong use of sensory stuff to enliven writing.

"He kissed me and he said, Close your eyes and opened your. I sniffed the air. It smelled like a cross between violets and berries with just a touch of citrus. My mouth closed around something small and quite soft the size of a grape with but with a scratchy surface. Do you like it? He asked anxious anxiously.

I tasted spring. Their frost did was from France." I've probably slaughtered the French pronunciation, but that was an example of a piece of writing that touched on all of the senses to, to cover that experience of somebody placing a raspberry in her mouth. We've also got Jane and Michael Stern, who, who did the column road food for a very long time, who described an apple pie and they'd say "the crust is as crunchy as a butter cookie.

So brittle, it crackles audibly when you press it with your fork. Grains of cinnamon sugar bounce off the surface as it shatters. The bottom crust is softer than the top, but brown and still breakable, inside as a dense apple pack. A firm Ida red crescent bound in a syrupy juice." So I guess as a prompt, I would say write about a familiar dish in a new way.

Engage your senses as you write about. Compare it to something unexpected, as they did there. And, and we hope for good things here. We don't want the mashed potatoes as wallpaper paste. But, but again, take a moment and, and try to delve into, you know, when you get stuck writing about food, the sensory part of it, and also what are the metaphors because you know, it's, the crust is as crunchy as a butter.

So let's make comparisons, let's draw things out that way. So that would be my food writing prompt. 

[00:10:48] Carrie: Great. And this is a time I think, when a lot of people are thinking about food especially, so it's probably a, a well timed prompt and class. 

[00:11:00] Ellen: Well, wonderful. And, and the truth is, I get so many great stories from students in that class. 

. And you really get to, you don't only, you don't just get to learn about their food traditions, but you get to learn about their family. 

[00:11:12] Carrie: Mm-hmm. , 

[00:11:12] Ellen: it's all so interwoven. 

[00:11:14] Carrie: Mm-hmm. . 

[00:11:14] Ellen: Yeah. 

[00:11:14] Carrie: Absolutely. 

So do you have any writing tips or advice that you'd like to give our listeners? 

[00:11:23] Ellen: Yeah. Yeah. I think particularly based on my own experience, one thing I would say would be don't be afraid to play with genres.

Don't be afraid to write in an area that you're unfamiliar with because many of the tools are interchangeable. Many of the, many of the skills, are skills that you can use in other areas. So, you know, just as we wanna an a, a unique image that's metaphoric, that carries through fiction. You know, poetry is all about the unique specific image.

It's all about attaching emotion to an image and, and good essays working exactly the same way they take our experience, but they, but they bring people closer to it through use of metaphor and image and sensory things. And so don't be afraid to just make it all your playground and try different stuff.

I will say November 9th, I've got an essay coming out at the Ethel, which is a magazine for women from AARP and. It's a very, very personal essay, and it's my first time delving into that sort of thing. And so check that out if, if you can, and see what you think of some of the ways in which I've tried to bring you close to my unique personal experience through those same sorts of tools.

But yeah, be fearless. It's really part of what I say to people. And then I also say things like, Get a great writer's group because, you know, We can't do it right the first time through. There's no way. There are gonna be things we don't see. There are gonna be areas that are untapped that they can tell us how to work on.

You know, so a critical eye is really helpful and you learn a lot by reading other people's writing. So that's a good thing as well. So, so be fearless. Get a good writer's group. And also, you know, I'm a big fan of submitting fearlessly and, and vigorously when you've got something that you really, really like. Don't be afraid to market

test it. Send it, send it to the best journal. If you think it's really great, send it to the best journal. I had a story in the Antioch Review. I sent it to him and a year later they contacted me and said, We're taking this story. That was a dream publication for me, and I was, I had the courage to do it, so I would urge you to do that too.

And they'll let you know quickly if it's not their cup of tea. And if you get a certain number of rejections, go back in and revise. Yeah, so, so just, you know, put yourself out there. I do think it's worth it. And also embrace your identity as a writer. If you're writing, you are a writer. You don't have to feel intimidated or competitive or any of those things.

Just enjoy what's out there cuz there's a whole world of stuff. And, and we're all, we're all in the same group, we're all in the same boat, so do your best to enjoy, but not be intimidated by the work of others. 

[00:14:12] Carrie: Yes. That, that is well said. Thank you, Ellen. And so just to remind everyone, your workshop Savoring Your Words is what day did you say that was gonna be on?

[00:14:26] Ellen: That will be December 7th from six to eight online through the Carnegie Center in, in cooperation with the Good Foods co-op, so 

[00:14:35] Carrie: Okay, great. Perfect, Perfect partnership . Well, thank you, Ellen, for joining us.

Thanks for listening to the Prompt to Page podcast. To submit your response to Ellen's prompts, visit us jesspublib.org/prompt-to-page. We also welcome you to join the Jessamine County Public Libraries Prompt to Page Writing Group, which will meet on Wednesday, November 30th at 6:00 p.m..

Register on our website. To learn more about the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning, visit Carnegiecenterlex.org. Our music is by Archipelago, an all instrumental musical collaboration between three Lexington based university professors. Find out more about Archipelago: Songs from Quarantine Volumes One and Two at the links on our podcast website.