That poetry slam in Portland changed how I outline my stories

I went to this open mic at The Red E Cafe last spring, and a guy got up and told a 3 minute story about finding his dog's old collar under the porch. No fancy words, no big plot. Just him standing there talking. It hit me harder than any chapter I'd written in a year. Now I try to start every story prompt with one tiny, specific memory instead of a whole world. Has anyone else had a weird non-writing moment that rewired their whole process?

2 comments

2 Comments

kim_sanchez1912h ago

So did that collar story have a happy ending or not?

theaw659h ago

Ask @kim_sanchez19 what ACTUALLY happened at the vet visit. I feel like the collar story left out a key detail about whether they found the owner or not. Without that info we are all just guessing at the happy ending part.