Author Binnie Kirshenbaum spoke at school on Monday night. She read from her latest book, The Scenic Route, which was hilarious and also troubling. During the Q&A, she relayed an anecdote that got Maurice* in a frenzy. Kirshenbaum said that she was telling her husband a story one day, and as usual, she went into a digression that she thought provided important context for the story.
"Get to the point," her husband interrupted her.
"What do you mean, 'get to the point?'" she asked him. "There is no point. I'm telling you a story to entertain you."
After I stopped laughing, I thought about what that meant for me. One of the things we are always talking about at school is what the point of our work is, the "so what?" that gets people to read something. When people ask me what my point is, 99% of the time I have no answer. I just want to tell a story. Maybe, if the story is told well, that's all the point that one needs.
Speaking of pointless, more chapters of the young adult novel I wrote when I was in 8th grade are ready to entertain (and I use that word loosely in this situation) at Always.
*Maurice is the hamster who runs on the wheel that powers my brain.
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Sometimes the journey to the point is the best part and not the point.
ReplyDeletejust saying....
Right - I love the idea that the story itself is the point.
ReplyDeleteCrap! If I'm going to have to start figuring out a point to all of the stories I spew, I'm in huge trouble.
ReplyDelete-Steph