Williamson 1

EXCRUCIATING SPACE, LORI WILLIAMSON

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Claffey, James. "The Third Time My Father Tried to Kill Me." The Best Small
Fictions 2015. By
Robert Olen Butler and Albert L. Masih. Plano, TX: Queen's Ferry, 2015.
N. pag. Print.
Synopsis
This short fiction, told from the perspective of a young boy, recounts three
different times his father has tried to kill him. The story is broken into short
sections, beginning with three sections that describe the third and latest
time his father attempted to kill him after they had a disagreement about the
nobility of the queen. The fourth section begins with, "The second time my
father tried to kill me..." and tells the story of his father holding him under
the water to "teach" him how to swim. The fifth and final section of the story
narrates the first time the boy's father tried to kill him. He attempted to
suffocate where he lay between his father and his mother when the boy
wouldn't stop crying. The boy was saved when the tinkling of bottles outside
by the milkman woke up his mother. After researching some of the
references, the UDA in particular, I found out that this story is set in 1970s
Ireland.
Application
This story is a beautiful example of how to be precise and poignant in
writing, a craft I feel I am constantly learning and attempting to perfect. The
story is about two full pages in the anthology, and there is so much history
crammed into the pages. "We'd been at the neighbor's house for a 'session.'
Fiddle. Bodhran. Tin Whistle. Bushmills. Guinness Extra Stout. They were
Northerners. From Derry. Provos, my father said. Sympathizers. Sotto Voce.
They sang and clapped and stomped shod feet on hardwood floor, the smell
of man sweat and bomb-making as thick as perfume" (26). In that brief
section, I can see exactly where the men are. The atmosphere in that house
is conveyed so well through the list of drinks, the short fragments that make
up the paragraph. The boy doesn't say how he feels there, but I know
because of the precision the author uses in setting the scene: "They raised
glasses, and the main singer cried, 'I...I...IRA, fuck the Queen and the UDA,'
as everyone drained their drinks. I said something about how the Queen
didn't seem so bad, and my father bristled" (26).
This story is also a great insight into the strained relationship between a
father and his son. Jeffrey's crime seems very similar to the first account of
the father's attempted murder of his son in this story, so I was intrigued as to
what circumstances might be surrounding the father to make him reach the

Williamson 2

point of murdering his own son. Reading this helped me understand how to
present a causal scene without explicitly having Jeffrey say, "This is why I did
what I did," because I'm not sure that he would be able to say it outright. I'm
not sure that he understands his emotions well enough to know, and I think
the father in this story had a lot of surrounding circumstances that made him
reach the point of murder, which I can apply to Jeffrey's character.
Death Penalty Information Center. DPIC. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
Synopsis
According to the about page on the DPIC website, The Death Penalty
Information Center is a national non-profit organization serving the media
and the public with analysis and information on issues concerning capital
punishment. The site gives information on nearly anything that one would
want to know concerning capital punishment. The main tabs on the site are
as follows: issues, which highlights the problems and concerns that surround
capital punishment and make it a controversial issue; resources, which
provides additional outside information about the death penalty; facts, which
gives strict statistics in various areas of the subject, including punishable
crimes, historical executions, a calendar of upcoming executions, and more;
report, which seems to be just what the nonprofit has been publishing lately
and what theyve been involved in; about, which lays out the general
information about DPIC and the individuals behind it; press, which highlights
press coverage; and donate, which gives information on how the public can
give to the nonprofit.
Application
This was the first site I came to when I began researching for my project, and
is probably the most influential web source in terms of ideas, though not in
tangible information. I had little knowledge about the death penalty or even
prison when I started. This site gave me some really good information on
what states have the death penalty and what means of execution they use.
Through this site, I was able to find out what prison in Tennessee houses
death row inmates, Riverbend Maximum Security Institute in Nashville. I also
looked at the execution schedule when I was trying to determine Jeffreys
execution date, in order to understand if there were certain dates that the
state would not execute for any reason. I spent a lot of time surfing around
this site in order to just get a feel for what laws surround the death penalty,
so this was one of the best sources for me when it came to writing a realistic
story. For example, I wont be writing that Jeffrey was executed by
electrocution now that I know that the state of Tennessee switched to lethal
injection in 1998.. I also used this source to fact check another source that I
will mention later in the annotated bibliography. I needed to know if the man
who inspired Jeffreys character was actually on death row, and I was able to

Williamson 3

find that information on this site. Overall, the site as a whole proved to be a
great reference for me and was one I revisited throughout my writing
experience
Edwards, Richard. A Journalist Falls In Love With Death Row Inmate #16.
Margot & The Nuclear So and So's. John Congleton, 2012. CD.
Synopsis
The fifth song on Margot & The Nuclear So and Sos delivers the tale of an
unnamed journalist who begins a relationship with an unnamed inmate on
death row she is writing a story about. The story is told in the point of view of
the journalist, who finds the inmate handsome and is smitten when he tells
her through one of his daily letters, I know Ive murdered a few, but none of
those women were you. The journalist is enamored by the inmates words
and refers to him throughout the song in various terms of endearment,
including grim reaper prince. As the journalist reflects on their relationship
after his execution, she cant believe her luck, as all the girls were envious of
the inmates affection for her. The last verse highlights the mixed emotions
the journalist has at the inmates execution. She confesses her love to him
before he is strapped down, but then she becomes angry watching him and
laughs. By the time the execution is over, she notes that she couldnt see
because her eyes were filled with tears.
Application
I first heard this song a couple of years ago. The first time I listened to it, I
remember thinking that the songwriters intended it to be a whimsical,
unbelievable, sweet story about a sheepish journalist and a smooth talking
murderer. In no world did I believe someone would fall for the pickup line: I
know Ive murdered a few, but none of those women were you. I didnt take
it seriously, but I did enjoy it. Sometime between that first listen and now, I
started hearing it a lot differently. The journalist says in the song, I couldnt
breathe. It was true love for me. I began to wonder what sort of love would
make a rational, probably educated, woman dismiss the heinous crime of a
man to the degree that she would want to associate herself with him in a
romantic relationship. It never occurred to me that there was probably a lot
more to the inmate than just smooth words and a handsome face. I was
intrigued by their story, and I wanted to know more.
When I started thinking about ideas for my practicum project, I found that
nothing I was coming up with excited me to the point that I couldnt wait to
spend the entire semester with it. It was coincidence that I heard this song
again along the time that I was supposed to be determining what my project
would be. I knew immediately that I had to write about them, the journalist
and the inmate. I wanted the extended version of the song, and the only way
to hear the rest of their storyto know what it really was about the inmate

Williamson 4

that made the journalist fall so deeply in love with himwas to let the story
play itself out in my project. The inmate became Jeffrey Minakowski. The
journalist became Rebecca Twaddell. Certainly, the characters have morphed
into different beings than I thought they would be when I was imagining
them only in regards to the song, but thats because they become more real
and gain more depth the longer I spend time with them. So I guess this is
truly the most significant source on my annotated bibliography. Without this
song, there would be no project.
I'm not sure why I felt an urgency to know their story, but I do know that
their relationship says something about humanity, and I've had the best time
exploring that.
"Executions." - TN.Gov. Web. 07 Nov. 2016.
Synopsis
When I reached out to Riverbend Maximum Security Institute, Alison
Rangaard, the public information officer, directed me to this site to find
answers to questions I had concerning actual life on death row. Unlike the
above site, which just has general statistics with some more specific
historical facts, this site lays out what life looks like on death row. Theres a
newsroom tab, a state prisons tab where you can actually set up an
appointment to look at any of the prisons in the state, a community
supervision tab, which gives a ton of information about parole and probation,
a rehabilitation tab, an employment tab, a statistics tab, a calendar tab,
which doesnt give execution dates but does give dates of events scheduled
by the Department of Correction (there isnt a Christmas party scheduled,
unsurprisingly), and a contact tab, which has a very extensive list of contacts
including state prisons, field officers, the central office, and location maps.
Application
I spent a long time trying to get the information I found on this site. I initially
wanted to interview Alison Rangaard, and was somewhat disappointed when
she directed me to the website in lieu of setting up a time for me to ask her
questions. However, the website was exactly what I needed to get over a
hump I came to when I started writing the scenes where Rebecca visits
Jeffrey in prison. My only concept of the inner workings of prison was limited
to what I had seen on Orange Is the New Black and Prison Break, and I really
wanted to be careful to stay away from any clichd prison scenes or simply
incorrect images of what an actual visitation with a death row inmate would
look like. I wasnt even sure that a death row inmate could be visited or given
paper to write the plays that Jeffrey gives to Rebecca.
I first explored a tab with every death row inmate currently at Riverbend,
which I plan to somehow incorporate in my story when I begin revision in
order to play with the meta style a bit more. The most interesting piece of

Williamson 5

information I received was about death watch. Its the three-day period
before an execution when the inmate is taken to a completely different room
and has very limited visitation rights along with a 24-hour observation by
correctional officers who work in twelve-hour shifts. I plan on incorporating
some of the correctional officers already in the story in a bigger way, so that
my minor characters earn their place in the story. Death watch is when the
inmate takes his or her last meal, which, as you can imagine, is crucial for
my story. Without this site, I would be writing this scene completely wrong.
Theres a lot of detailed information on the site about the holding cell: its
eight feet by ten feet, theres a desk, a shelf, a shower, and a window to the
grounds. The media are not allowed to visit the inmate during death watch,
which is another crucial bit of information for my story. This means that, after
meeting with Jeffrey for the last time, shell wait three days and see him next
at his execution. That bit of information alone gave me so much inspiration
for writing that scene, which will be the most important scene, in my mind. I
also found out that the inmate is allowed twelve pieces of stationery, which
had me imagining all sorts of things that Jeffrey would possibly write in his
last three days.
Whereas the above site offered a lot of general information that loosely
guided my writing, this site sparked my imagination in huge ways. This is
among my most prized sources.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Everything Is Illuminated: A Novel. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 2002.
Print.
Synopsis
This novel is a work of metafiction in which the authorJonathan Foersets
out in search of information about his grandfather, Safran. In order to do so,
he hires a young man from his grandfathers homeland, the Ukraine, to help
show him around the country in an attempt to find a city, Trachimbrod, that
seems to be lost. The man, Alex, translate as needed and brings his own
grandfather along to drive. His grandfather brings along his dog, Sammy
Davis Jr. Jr., and the four take to their search. The hired man, Alex, becomes a
key character in the novel. His narration of events that take place once he
meets Jonathan form the main structure of the novel. Alexs main narration is
broken up by his letters to Jonathannever letters from Jonathanand
Jonathans own writing about his family history. Alex wants to be "cooler"
than he is, and is an unreliable narrator, which readers learn later in the
novel when Alex confesses that he has exaggerated his experiences with
women and his ability to dance well. Through Jonathan's journey, Alex
discovers his own voice and attempts to sort through his relationship with his
father. He also is inspired to be a writer by Jonathan. The only sections
written by Jonathan are about his family history, which finds it thematic

Williamson 6

center in love and sadness, and the way the two are wrapped up in one
another.
Application
This novel was a major inspiration in the structuring of my project. Because
readers never see letters from Jonathan to Alex, only letters from Alex to
Jonathan, it creates a fun and unique reading experience that put a lot of
work in my hands as the reader to piece things together. I got to see
Jonathan through Alexs eyes, more truthfully than I probably would have if I
got first-hand accounts from Jonathan, which is brilliant when considering
that Jonathan is the actual author of the book. I knew I wanted to play with
metafiction, but wasnt sure how to do so without seeming cheesy or tonguein-cheek to a degree that it becomes annoying and contrived. I think the
assumption would be that Jonathan is the main character, but the structure
allowed him to step back from the story a bit and make it more about Brod,
his great great great grandmother, and Alex.
I applied this structure in my project by letting myself be seen in the story
rather than given a first-person voice. I am still a very minor character in the
story, compared to Foers metafiction. In this way, I think I get a little away
from metafiction, so Id like to play with including myself more.
Another way Foers technique inspired my own is in the way I allow Jeffrey
Minakowski to be seen. My story is about Jeffrey Minakowski, but he is not
the protagonist; Rebecca is. Therefore, she gets to tell the story. The only
time Jeffrey is ever given first-person reign is through his artistic works, much
like Jonathans role in Everything Is Illuminated.
Another aspect of Everything is Illuminated that inspired my writing was the
inclusion of actual documents in Jonathan (the characters) story. As he
writes his familys history, he includes all sorts of strange documentation
surrounding the story of Brod. There are Broads 613 Sadnesses, The Book of
Recurring Dreams written by the Jewish community surrounding his great
great great grandmothers life. Each of these documents is whimsical and
seeping with magical realism that makes reading them so much fun. One of
my favorite documents, and perhaps the one that most inspired my writing,
was a play that Jonathan includes in order to give context as to what was
happening when his great (to the nth degree) grandfather, Safran, met one
of his loves. The play is about a wagon crash, but the language is so entirely
silly and seemingly packed with meaning. I was enamored by how Foer did
that, threw out sanity in order to create depth. I wanted to try an absurdist
play written by Jeffrey in order to cultivate a sort of magical feel at the start
of my piece. I realize that I need to tone it up in order to make some of the
images cohesive with the rest of the story, but I did purposefully include
images that I want to be important in an emotional way. I think thats one of
the biggest points of inspiration I had from Foers novelcreating emotional
truth in absurd and logic defying scenes.

Williamson 7

Character inspiration was big for me in this novel too, considering it focuses
heavily on love and sadness, and how the two are intertwined. Foer's novels
are known for portraying complicated, multi-dimensional relationships. I'm so
impressed by how he does that in this work, and I wanted to be able to craft
a depth for Rebecca and Jeffrey's relationship that really got at the
impossibility of it and also the inevitability of it. Of one of the historical
characters in the novel, Foer writes, "He awoke each morning with the desire
to do right, to be a good and meaningful person, to be, as simple as it
sounded and as impossible as it actually was, happy." I was intrigued by this
description for Jeffrey's characterization, that he desires righteousness but
wrestles with his past each day. And of the character's sadness, Foer writes,
"And each morning he would wake with it again in the cupboard of his rib
cage, having become a little heavier, a little weaker, but still pumping." First,
that's a wonderful, wonderful description. It's vivid and a great inspiration
just in that. But also in it's ability to capture sadness and what it feels like.
Grief and sadness is a large part of my project by nature. Everything is
Illuminated is probably among the best of examples of how to capture those
feelings without cliches. There's a really neat document included that talks
about all sorts of different types of sadnesses. It reads like this: "SADNESS
OF THE INTELLECT: Sadness of being misunderstood [sic]; Humor sadness;
Sadness of love wit[hou]t release; Sadne[ss of be]ing smart; Sadness of not
knowing enough words to [express what you mean]; Sadness of having
options; Sadness of wanting sadness; Sadness of confusion; Sadness of
domes[tic]ated birds, Sadness of fini[shi]ng a book; Sadness of
remembering; Sadness of forgetting; Anxiety sadness." Once again, I'm
inspired by the inclusion of writing that isn't narrative and also the
relatability of his examples.
Gimlet Media,. "On The Inside Pts. 1-4". Reply All. 2016. Podcast.
Synopsis
On The Inside is a four-part podcast that is all about Paul Modrowski, an
inmate sentenced to life in prison at Statesville Prison in Illinois. The
journalist who interviews Modrowski, Sruthi Pinnamaneni, began the story
after hearing about the blog, On The Inside, that Modrowski started while he
was in prison. Modrowski would hand write each of his posts and give them
to his mother to transcribe to the blog. Pinnamaneni was taken with the
concept of keeping a blog while in prison, and found the subject matter on
the blog and Pauls writing voice to be very interesting. After Pinnamaneni
began interacting with Paul, she realized the story wasnt in the blog but was
in Paul himself. Paul is autistic, and is somewhat socially awkward. At the
time of his trial, little was known about autism. Most of the jury and
witnesses believed that Paul committed the murder he was accused of solely
because he looked like a murderer. Sruthi spends the majority of the podcast

Williamson 8

series going through old files and records, meeting with other key characters
in Pauls trial, and ultimately trying to understand what it was like for Paul to
go through a trial in which he was automatically written off for his inability to
interact at a normal level socially. The question of whether or not Paul really
committed the crime is at the heart of the podcast.
Application
I had already determined the basic facts of my story when I found this
podcast while researching one day. I was looking for personal accounts from
inmates. My jaw dropped when I heard the name Paul Modrowski because it
had such a likeness to Jeffrey Minakowski, which I had come up with a week
or so before listening to the podcast. I had to listen to the podcast in its
entirety, then. This source was really helpful for me because I got to listen to
the real back and forth between journalist and inmate. It was important for
me to hear that dialogue and the way a reporter would talk to an
interviewee, especially one that she had so much personal interest in. I also
was very intrigued by the fact that Modrowski wrote in prison and seemed to
write well. It made sense to me that there must be some unexplored creative
souls in prison, and I began to imagine Jeffrey in terms of more creativity. I
think Modrowskis character helped me shape and figure out Jeffrey better. I
also thought it would be fun to incorporate Modrowski in my project by giving
Jeffrey a guest blog post on Modrowskis blog. Im not sure if that will end up
in the final product or not, but it was a good exercise to aid in my
characterization of Jeffrey.
Hart, Jack. Storycraft: The Complete Guide to Writing Narrative Nonfiction.
Chicago: U of
Chicago, 2011. Print.
Synopsis
Jack Hart is a former managing editor of the Oregonian. He edited four
Pulitzer Prize finalists, including winners in explanatory journalism and
feature writing. In STORYCRAFT, which is exactly what the title would lead
one to believe, Hart gives a comprehensive guide to aspiring creative
nonfiction writers. He covers most areas of question regarding creative
nonfiction, including ethics, structure, point of view, dialogue, action,
reporting, scene, and more. Harts craft book differs from most creative
writing craft books in that he comes from the perspective of a journalist
rather than a memoirist or an essayist or any other form of creative
nonfiction writer. Because of this distinction, Harts directions often lean
toward a more detached form of storytelling that sticks very closely to facts
and prizes hard truth over emotional truth.
Application

Williamson 9

Though this is a craft book, I used this book less for the direction Hart gives
to writers and more for Hart himself. I was so interested in this books
labeling as being geared toward creative nonfiction writers, because it feels
so journalistic. Harts dedication to the truth at all cost inspired much of my
characterization of Rebecca, the protagonist in my story. I know little about
journalism, and reading this book gave me an in depth look at what a
journalist feels is important when it comes to writing a story. This was crucial
for me because the backbone of my project is a story being written by a
journalist.
The most influential chapter in the book for my purposes was chapter 14,
which discusses the ethics involved in writing creative nonfiction. This
discussion is one that provides a wide array of varying ideas. There are those
who believe that truth is felt and that creative nonfiction writers should be
allowed to fudge the details slightly so long as they stick to the emotional
truth of the story. Then there are those like Hart who believe that emotional
truth is unethical. He quotes Ted Conover saying, Because whenever
possible in this life its good to be up front with people (231).
For whatever reason, Hart is committed to the truth on the basis that it is
simply right and noble and just to stick to it. You work hard at your craft and
do your best to get everything right. You check and double-check. And you
never deliberately falsify anything, large or small (235). I was floored at this
commitment to the truth in a craft that so often steers toward fictionalizing
things as much as possible while still maintaining the nonfiction label in
order to make a better story. While reading, I thought so often that this was
my protagonist. She may be an uncompassionate, type-A sort t of person,
but readers can find her likable in her willingness to work hard and tell the
truth.
Hart acknowledges that some would say he takes the creativity out of
creative nonfiction, and that he might be overdoing it, but as he nears the
end of the chapter, he gives this incredible quote: Everything Ive learned
about story reinforces my belief that only a commitment to truth and
decency unbridles the full power of storytelling (239). If Rebecca Twaddell
had a quote taped to her vanity, I imagine this would be it. This is the mantra
of my protagonist, making this source quite necessary when it came to
writing and characterizing her.
Into the Abyss. Dir. Werner Herzog. Perf. Michael Perry. Werner Herzog, 2011.
Netflix. Web. 9
Nov. 2016.
Synopsis
This five-part documentary follows the story of a triple murder that occurred
in Conroe, Texas in 2001. Michael Perry and Jason Burkett were accused of

Williamson 10

the crimes and sentence, Burkett to forty years in prison, and Perry to death
row. The film opens with an interview in which a minister is asked questions
about his time spent with death row inmates in the final moments before
they are executed by the state, and the entirety of the film is framed in that
light. Throughout, Werner Herzog interviews the two convicted murderers
and also those affected by the murdersthe siblings of the victims, parents
and spouses of the victims and the accused, law enforcement officers
involved in the case, and a man who assisted in executions for much of his
adult life. Unlike most films that find a crime at the heart of the story, this
documentary is less concerned about deciding what exactly happened the
night of the murders, and more about exploring killing, both from the
criminals and the state. Perry's interview takes place days before he is to be
executed. Into the Abyss explores the effect of long-term sentencing on
Perry, how it matters to him psychologically, physically, and spiritually. The
documentary caps off just after Perry's execution.
Application
First, this documentary showed me that my descriptions of Jeffrey and
Rebecca's visitations were all wrong. Visitations with death row inmates
happen between a Plexiglas window, not face-to-face. I had seen both types
of interviews, but it appears that the rights granted to death row inmates
prevent them from interaction beyond the glass window. The documentary
also gave me a personal account of the effects that long-term prison
sentences can have on individuals. Michael Perry said some intriguing things
about his last moments, how it wasn't quite sinking in most of the time, but
he'd have days where he became utterly depressed. In the third part of the
documentary, Werner Herzog asks Jason Burkett, the other young man
accused of the crimes along with Michael Perry, how old he will be when he
gets out of prison. The look on Jason's face is devastating. He was sentenced
when he was nineteen, and will be released in his fifty-ninth year of life. So
much change happens in forty years, and it's hard to watch someone realize
what that means for their life. But that's only forty years. A life sentence can
mean something much darker for someone. It wasn't that I didn't realize this
before, but seeing the individuals in the documentary react helped me to
realize more realistically the complexity of emotions Jeffrey must be feeling
in his position. But Perry and Burkett weren't the only ones affected by their
sentences. That sort of sentencing affects everyone around the individual,
including the family of the victims. There was a very interesting interview
that took place after Perry's execution with the sister of one of the victims.
She said she was so relieved when she watched Perry die, yet she kept
repeating, "He was just a boy." It was a strange glimpse into human emotion,
that conflict between wanting retribution but understanding that there is
something deeply unnatural about what she witnessed.

Williamson 11

There's also a really nice scene where Jason Burkett's father talks about
watching his son being led away in handcuffs to begin his forty year
sentence, how he felt like he failed his son. It's sad listening to him recount
the specific ways he believed he fell short, specific dreams he had for him
and ways he would have been more available to him if he could go back and
redo things. He mentions wanting his son to play little league baseball and
"raise a steer" because those were things he got to do as a boy. It gave me
so much insight on father and son relationships, which is important to my
story because of the back story I want to craft about Jeffrey and his father
and potentially Rebecca and hers. What does absent parenting do to
children? This documentary gave me some ideas.
Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York:
Anchor, 1995. Print.
Synopsis
In Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott gives writers of creative works the advice to
take their writing one step at a time. The title of Anne Lamotts craft book
says that it is instructional in aspects of Writing and Life. As the title
suggests, Lamott doesnt limit her instructions to specifically practical
advice, but gives a sort of been there, done that emotional support in order
to help her audience see the bigger picture of writing as a whole. She begins
the book with a personal anecdote that might make readers believe the book
is heading into memoir territory, but Lamott sprinkles personal stories
throughout in order to make her helpful, concrete advice in matters of plot,
character, setting, morality, revision, voice, and publication truly come alive.
Lamotts voice, hilarious and whimsical as it is, establishes a cosmic
significance for the creation of written works.
Application
Its nice to know that there are people who understand the fantastic tragedy
that writing is. It isnt easy. Its actually quite hard. The months before a
book comes out of the chute are, for most writers, right up there with the
worst life has to offer, pretty much like the first twenty minutes of
Apocalypse Now, with Martin Sheen in the motel room in Saigon, totally
decompensating (xxv). I like this quote in particular for multiple reasons. No
one in practicum is writing a book, but for most of us, what we are working
on is the hardest piece of artistic work weve had to produce up until this
point. And realizing the significance of what can be while understanding that
a piece of work isnt there yet wears me down quicker than I thought was
possible. Ill be elated one moment because Ive found some great
inspiration, only to deflate completely a second later when I realize Im
completely incapable of getting my work to do anything lasting. Lamott gets
that, and she says write anyway.

Williamson 12

I also like this quote because its a prime example of Lamotts voice. She has
a ton of it. She doesnt distance herself from her work very much, and she
constantly utilizes pop culture references and very specific details to drive
her stories home. Its a style I really appreciate and Ive tried to adopt as I
write my project.
Throughout several pages, Lamott gets at the really important message that
we as writers, are simply designated typists (56). She expresses the need
to let characters do what characters are going to do, to let the story become
what it wants and needs to become. For me, as a person who believes
writing is a calling, its nice to know that Lamott believes works of art are
bigger than the artist. I believe this wholeheartedly, Lamotts words were a
nice touchstone to come back to when I felt myself forgetting this throughout
my process.
L'Engle, Madeleine. Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith & Art. Wheaton,
IL: H. Shaw, 1980.
Print.
Synopsis
In this book, LEngle reflects on her faith as it pertains to her writing. She
asks the questions that many writers of faith have certainly asked at some
point or another. What is a Christian artist and what is expected of him or
her? What signifies art as being Christian? This is not a craft book, rather a
book that establishes a sort of ground where writing becomes an act of faith.
This is also a call to action for Christian artists to produce good art.
Application
The first chapter of this book did it for me. Cosmos from Chaos was exactly
what I needed to see in order to understand fullyfinally!what my writing
should be as a Christian artist. I went through the phase early on of writing
Jesus in all my stories. Then I went through a phase where he wasnt there at
all, and in an attempt to defy the reputation that Christian writers are
sentimental and unrealistic, I wrote dark things, things that had no inkling of
the hope that Christ unfailingly provides. I read LEngle at the perfect time;
Im over both of those phases and trying to understand what it means to
write works that can contribute to the kingdom of God and still be good
writing. My favorite quoteand I had a lot to choose fromcame in this
chapter: some artists look at the world around them and see chaos, and
instead of discovering cosmos, they reproduce chaos, on canvas, in music, in
words. As far as I can see, the reproduction of chaos is neither art, nor is it
Christian (8-9). LEngle calls Christians to a higher standard in her book. She
says that art needs to be good in an aesthetic and craft sense, but it also
needs to do something transformative to the people who interact with it. This
is frightening to me because it makes my writing take on a weight that

Williamson 13

seems too big for me to handle. But it is also moves me to worship, because
of course its too big for me! When I acknowledge that, I allow my writing to
be moved by the Holy Spirit, and only then can it be what it needs to be to
move those who read it. This book was influential for me during practicum as
this is the biggest piece of writing Ive done, and its nice to have that
constant knowledge that it isnt all in vain. Its important. That gravity has to
be realized at all times.
Miller, Brenda, and Suzanne Paola. Tell It Slant: Writing and Shaping Creative
Nonfiction. New
York: McGraw Hill, 2004. Print.
Synopsis
Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola tag-team in order to deliver this craft book
for nonfiction writers. The title, as most would know, comes from an Emily
Dickinson poem: Tell the Truth but tell it Slant (v). The driving force behind
Miller and Paolas brand of creative nonfiction is that storytelling should
never be a mere regurgitation of facts, but should get to a wider meaning.
Creative nonfiction isnt about what you saw but what you learned from what
you saw, or what you did with what you saw, or how the world as a whole is
affected by what you saw. The book is separated into helpful chapters that
cover different types of nonfiction essays and how to structure them, what
subjects are written about in nonfiction and how to most effectively write
them, basic writing skills that help with crafting an interesting story, ethics of
storytelling, and how to publish written works. Each chapter ends with a
series of writing exercises geared toward whatever topic was covered in the
text before.
Application
If Jack Harts STORYCRAFT falls on one end of the creative nonfiction
spectrum, Tell It Slant falls on the completely opposite end. This book is all
about emotional truth. Where I utilized Jack Hart for his personal character, I
utilized this book for the craft it taught. I am not writing nonfiction, but this
book was still helpful for me as I was imagining how Rebecca would be
journaling. For her, it is nonfiction. Theres a great chapter in this book title
Writing the Family which was helpful to keep in mind while I wrote the scene
where Rebecca has dinner with her mother, sister, and nephew. The chapter
talks about different angles one could use when writing the family. One of the
most helpful tips I got from this chapter was that you cant cover everything
about family in one story. Its often tempting, especially when youre dealing
with emotionally charged material, to try and encompass everything into one
essay. Such a strategy will leave you, and your readers, numb and
exhausted. Ask the small questions. Who was the family member to come
last to the table (18). This translated quite literally to the scene in my story,
where Rebecca and her family are literally at a table eating. I think, for me,

Williamson 14

Im always trying to find ways to write less explicitly, to incorporate really

meaningful things without stating them outright, and letting the readers be
witnesses to whats happening so they can draw their own conclusions. I
began writing that entry of Rebeccas journal with Miller and Paolas words in
mind. I tried to write the small things. The similarities between Rebeccas
mom and her sister, Rachel. I wanted to be as detailed as possible and let
the problems between them crop up naturally. I think that scene unfolded as
if it were reality, for me. It needs a lot of work, but I think now Im at a place
where I just need to clean it up and make some of the conclusions clearer for
the readers.
Another helpful chapter was Using Research to Expand Your Perspective.
Whereas the last chapter mentioned was helpful for me in that I was looking
at it through Rebeccas lens, this chapter was helpful for me as the writer of
this project. Research for a work of fiction isnt something that Im terribly
used to, other than the occasional Google search to fact check myself, so I
really had to dive in and seek out sources. This chapter gives some really
good tips for research as it pertains to creative works. Other than just getting
really practical information about what sites to go to and how to best utilize
them, there was an interesting section in the chapter about using fact as
metaphor: At times, however, fact will also function as metaphor, informing
the essay both on its own termsinformation about the physical world the
reader may need or find interestingand as a basis for a more intangible
part of the piece (74). I think this was really helpful when it came to the role
of Firehouse Subs and the notorious sandwich that Jeffrey wants for his last
meal. I tried to incorporate the facts of the sandwich in tangible ways
Rebecca visiting Firehouse, finding out information about the sandwich and
what it takes to bring it backand intangible waysthe inclusion of the
sandwich in Jeffreys plays, acting as a sort of reminder that he and Rebecca
will never be together. The section in the chapter talks about using elements
as touchstones, and the Firehouse Sub sandwich became a touchstone in my
piece.
Modrowski, Paul. "Thinner -- September 14, 2013." Thinner -- September 14,
2013. N.p., 01 Jan.
1970. Web. 06 Dec. 2016.
Synopsis
This is the blog of Paul Modrowski, the inmate I mentioned earlier in the
bibliography from the Reply All podcast. This particular blog post is about his
weight loss as he struggles to stomach the prison food he finds disgusting.
He also works out and talks about his conversations with guards about his
exercise regimen. He explores things that are happening in the prison as
well, including a fight after a religious service and a lock down. He ends the
blog post by explaining the title. He references Stephen King's novel,
Thinner, and muses if he himself has been cursed throughout his life with the

Williamson 15

latest of the curses he has obtained being the same as the character in
King's novel who is cursed to slowly waste away.
Application
I didn't read all of Modrowski's blog for time's sake, but I did skim and look
through titles that seemed interesting. I got stuck on this one because of the
descriptions of prison life, particularly the food. In this post, he talks about
being served white rice in tomato paste, beans and "overcooked" carrots,
"ground turkey-soy drool". Modrowski is quite picky when it comes to food,
and the prison diet is not one that caters to the picky eater. His voice is very
distinct and opinionated, and his familiarity with the Stephen King novel was
so interesting to me. The entire last paragraph was intriguing:
"Throughout this week I was reminded of the Stephen King novel 'Thinner.' In
it a lawyer accidentally runs over the daughter of a Gypsy who puts a curse
on the man. The curse is simply thinner, but it was to waste him away until
he was near death. After working out this morning, I looked in a plastic mirror
without my shirt on. I must have less than 5% body fat and I can see all my
muscle striations as well as many veins and tendons. I probably am down to
175 pounds and at this rate I will be below 170 sometime next week. If I
believed in curses, I may contemplate whether one had been cast on me
with all my misfortune. The latest of these would be 'thinner.'"
I want to implement that sort of literary talk into Jeffrey's speech. I would
love to include Modrowski in my project in some way, hopefully in some sort
of interaction with Jeffrey on his blog. I'm workshopping ideas.
Moore, Lorrie. "How to Become a Writer."
Synopsis
"How to Become a Writer" is a How-To essay by Lorrie Moore that is sort of
tongue-in-cheek. Moore gives advice to writers that isn't practical advice that
should actually be taken, rather she uses the structure of a How-To essay to
tell stories about how she became a writer. It is a fun and interesting format
to tell give more flair to a nonfiction essay.
Application
This was the first hermit-crab style essay I read when I was researching how
to incorporate various styles of documents in my project. I really liked the
mocking tone and the way the structure she chose lends itself to humor in a
way she might have had to work a bit harder for had she just chosen a
typical narrative structure. "First, try to be something, anything, else. A
movie star/astronaut. A movie star/missionary. A movie star/kindergarten
teacher. President of the World. Fail miserably. It is best if you fail at an
early age -- say, fourteen. Early, critical disillusionment is necessary so that

Williamson 16

at fifteen you can write long haiku sequences about thwarted desire (126)."
I'm not sure that I did the sort of mocking thing as much in my project, but I
certainly was inspired to try different styles and utilize the document to say
the things I wanted to say without having to resort to narrative to do so.
Munro, Alice. "The Ticket." The View from Castle Rock: Stories. Detroit:
Thorndike, 2007. 255
84. Print.
Synopsis
The narrator in this short story from Munro's book, The View From Castle
Rock, reflects on her own marriage and the marriages of her grandmother
and grandfather, great aunt and uncle, and mother and father. At the
beginning of the story, the narrator tells readers that she is married, and we
find out as the story continues that she married her first boyfriend, Michael.
Michael comes from a wealthier family, and seems to be a very put-together
man. It doesn't seem as though the narrator has any particular affection for
him, but none of the three relationships she studies when she is
contemplating her own relationship included affection, save the relationship
between her great aunt and uncle, Aunt Charlie and Uncle Cyril. It is Aunt
Charlie who gives the narrator money just in case she needs to run away
before her wedding, in case "It might not be just the right ticket for you"
(283). Readers don't learn of this until the end of the book, after it's already
obvious that the narrator went through with her marriage.
Application
This story was an interesting study on marriage and relationships, and how
society and the times shape the way people expect relationships to look like.
Though the narrator in this story reflects on a wedding that occurred in the
fifties, I think I was able to take some of the concerns she had and apply
them to Rebecca. There is a backstory for Rebecca that I haven't gotten to
the point of fully revealing yet, but in the current draft of my project, it is
known that Rebecca has had a pregnancy and a three-year relationship that
went sour with a man named Jacob. I liked the way the narrator in Munro's
short story muses about certain topics without ever saying this is how I felt.
For example, when the narrator recounts her first time having sex with the
man who would be her husband, she says, "...we believed that this was as
serious as a marriage ceremony, because we could not possibly, now, do the
same thing with anybody else" (259). The tone the narrator takes here, as
she reflects on this experience, makes me think that she no longer believes
the same way. It makes me wonder if, at some point, she or her husband had
been unfaithful to one another in their marriage. Munro's ability to spark all
this thought in one simple sentence is something that I think is worthy of
striving for.

Williamson 17

I'm also interested in the thought of being with someone because they seem
like a good fit, even if there are no feelings of affection present. That sort of
relationship seems like the type of thing Rebecca would dobe with
someone because it made logical sense and not emotional sense. Then,
when she became pregnant and miscarried, the relationship couldn't hold up.
There will come a point when Rebecca more blatantly reflects on her
relationship with Jacob, and I want to be able to do it in the same way Munro
has her narrator reflect on her marriage. "And I thought I love him. Love and
marriage. That was a lighted and agreeable room you went into, where you
were safe. The lovers I had imagined, the bold-plumed predators, had not
appeared, perhaps did not exist, and I could hardly think myself a match for
them anyway" (281).
Northcutt, Clinton. "Clinton Northcutt Inmate Penpal #053112-0052."
Prison Inmate Penpal +
Female Male Prisoner Penpals RSS. St. Michael Ministries, 20 Sept.
2014. Web. 07 Nov.
2016.
Synopsis
St. Michael Ministries, a ministry out of North Carolina, crafted this website in
order to provide the general public with the opportunity to write letters to
prisoners. It is the belief of those behind the organization that writing the
prisoners who have created profiles on the sitevia family or friendsgives
them hope that will alter their perception of life and help them to ultimately
become happier and healthier citizens as a result. The profiles are broken up
by gender and age range, with the exception of death row inmates, who are
so few that they neednt be broken into separate categorizations like the
general prisoners. The listings included the inmates addresses so that you
can write them, or you can opt to send a letter in email that St. Michaels
Ministries will print and mail for you.
In Clinton Northcutts profile, he acknowledges his wrongdoing as well as
expressing sorrow for it, though he doesnt state what it is outright. He
credits God to helping him turn his life around and understanding
forgiveness. He says hes only interested in friendship. He spends the
majority of his profile giving general information about his interests and
hobbies.
Application
I found this site because I thought it would be interesting research to contact
a death row inmate in order to get some really personal information as to
what life on death row looks like. I browsed the limited death row inmate
profiles on the site, and found one that seemed safest. His name is Clinton
Northcutt. The first line of his profile reads like this: My name is Clinton, and

Williamson 18

I have been on death row for eight years. I was struck by how abrupt he
began. He got right to the point. The second line was the one that made me
decide that he was the one I would write. Only recently have I decided to
dip my toe into the proverbial pool of pen-paling. There was something
about his voice that was so whimsical and odd. He uses words like embark
and proverbial. And he listed Celine Dion as one of his favorite artists and
Once Upon A Time as one of his favorite shows. He became the basis for
Jeffrey very quickly. In Jeffreys letter to Firehouse Subs, he has a very
whimsical way with words that I adapted straight from Clintons profile.
I had already written the letter to Clinton before I realized I hadnt looked up
what his crime was. I did a quick internet search and found public records,
news site articles, and other blurbs that all said the same thing. Clinton
murdered his four month old son when the child wouldnt stop crying one
night. The accounts are all extremely graphic as to just how Clinton acted out
his crime. He wasnt under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and he admitted
in court that what he did was wrong and asked the judge for the death
penalty. His request was obviously granted. After finding reading account
after account of his crime, I had a hard time believing that the Clinton who
had written the nice profile on the pen-pal site was the same man who could
become angry enough to murder a four month old child in the brutal way
that he did. I was reminded, like I am most days, of the complexity of
humans. We can be so good and do such horrific things. Jeffrey is based
heavily on Clinton, because I think Clinton is a good example of humanity.
Rebecca falls in love with Jeffrey despite his crime, which is really hard when
the crime is something that so many people find so detestable. I needed to
see all the fun, nice, human characteristics on Clintons pen-pal profile in
order to see Jeffrey as a person aside from his crime and to allow his
personality to come out.
I never received a reply from Clinton.
Robinson, Marilynne. Gilead: A Novel. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,
2004. Print.
Synopsis
After a twenty-four-year hiatus from publishing, Marilynne Robinson came out
with Gilead, a fictitious memoir written from the perspective of John Ames,
and aged and dying preacher who wants to leave behind a history for his
young son to read when he is older. Ames married a much younger woman
later in life. He is in his seventies at the opening of the book, and his son is
around eight. The age difference distresses Ames because he worries his
sons only memories of his father will be unflattering and incomprehensive.
The novel focuses heavily on the relationship between fathers and sons, of
course, but it also works through spirituality and explores the magic of
existence and what it means to be human.

Williamson 19

Application
Its been a while since Ive read a novel with as beautiful prose as this novel
has. John Ames is a simple man, but he contemplates beautiful things, and
the way he expresses his thoughts in language makes me verbally sigh
sometimes. I felt full reading this book, and thankful, and that is a feat to
accomplish in a novel. I have so much respect for Marilynne Robinson for
being able to write a voice so different than her own and do it so
convincingly. There was a lot of inspiration in my own work from that alone. I
dont know how she does it, but she lets John Ames breathe and become
real, and I know that she has such a respect for him as a character simply in
the way she let him become a whole person. Robinsons Gilead is a great
study in how to craft convincing characters.
Besides inspiring me to write beautiful, packed sentences that make readers
fully realize the miracle it is to be living (seriously, its that good), I also
derived inspiration from the fact that Ames writing is diary-esque. Hes
writing to his son, so he knows his audience. There is an urgency in his
writing in that he wants to get it all out of him before he dies, but there is
also a casualness that makes sense for a diary. He flips between writing the
begats, his familys history, which is often troubling and sad, to giving
accounts of what hes watching his son do outside his window. A good
example is directly after a section where Ames has written big sweeping
statements about his life and growing old. The following passage begins,
You and the cat have joined me in my study. Soapy is on my lap and you are
on our belly on the floor in a square of sunlight, drawing airplanes (54). Not
only do the details feel so real that I visualize the scene with fantastic ease,
but also the switch doesnt seem abrupt because thats what we do in
journals. Im trying to adopt that balance in my own writing of Rebeccas
journals. I want there to be a seriousness in Rebeccas writing. Shes very
work-oriented, so it makes sense that her journals would be very workcentric. However, I think its natural to write about the happenings in life as
Ames does, so Ive tried to include some of that in my own writing as
naturally as Robinson does, though I still have a lot to learn.
Another aspect of John Ames writing (Or Robinsons writing through John
Ames) that Ive learned from is how to incorporate a self-awareness that is
typical in diaries. Ames ends one paragraph with, This is an interesting
planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it, and goes immediately
into this: In writing this, I notice the care it costs me not to use certain
words more than I ought to (28). I highlighted the entire paragraph because
it registered with me so much as a thing anyone would do in a diary. He lets
his son know that he doesnt write the way he speaks. I was struck by how
self-aware he was in his writing, and I think Rebecca should be too. I think
shes a very introspective person, even if she does keep certain parts of her
past locked away. I think the more I practice letting her self-awareness come
through naturally, the more she will begin to reveal things about herself. This
is a practice Im learning by reading this novel.

Williamson 20

Shields, David, and Matthew Vollmer. Fakes: An Anthology of Pseudointerviews, Faux-lectures,

Quasi-letters, "found" Texts, and Other Fraudulent Artifacts. New York:
W.W. Norton,
2012. Print.
Synopsis
In this anthology, David Shields and Matthew Volmer include forty short
fictions that all have one commonality: each story is a counterfeit text, taking
unlikely shapes in order to convey a message. Some examples include
letters, a personal ad, a works cited page, a last will and testament,
itineraries, end-of-the-year reports, and much more. The anthology traces
the line between fact and fiction in a new, fun, often hilarious, way. Before
the short stories begin, there are brief sections that define what fraudulent
artifacts are, how best to choose a genre, what to do to learn the
conventions of a given genre, and then how to establish the writing in a
natural way. Authors in the anthology include Rick Moody, Jonathan Safran
Foer, Lorrie Moore, Amy Hempel, George Saunders, and more.
Application
This was a very practical source for me to use in order to see examples of
crafting fake documents, which I do in my piece some when writing from
Jeffreys perspective. I read each of the stories that were crafted as letters
(Dear Stephen Hawking by Amanda Hunt, Letter to Wendys by Joe
Wenderoth). This was to get a good grasp on how to write the letter to
Firehouse Subs, so it was nice that one of the stories included was to a fast
food chain. There was also Interview with a Moron by Elizabeth StuckeyFrench, which I read in order to get a grasp on how an interview might play
out, since Rebecca initially goes to interview Jeffrey in a very formal way. I
also though Will and Testament by Matthew Volmer would be good to
incorporate as a document from Jeff since he is on death row and will be
executed, and it wasnt a document I had thought about including until I read
the anthology and it became blatantly clear to me that of course Jeffrey
would write a last will and testament and give it to Rebecca. She might even
be on it!
Overall, this was a really helpful source because I was able to look at forms
that I knew I wanted to use, but I was also inspired to branch out and try
different forms. I think incorporating these sorts of things in my piece is fun
and a different sort of way to play with being meta.
Walker, Alice. ""Really, Doesn't Crime Pay?"" In Love & Trouble; Stories of
Black Women. New
York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1973. N. Print.

Williamson 21

Synopsis
Really, Doesnt Crime Pay? is a short story in a collection by Alice Walker
titled, In Love and Trouble. The story is told through unchronological diary
clippings of Myrna, an African American woman living in 1960s America.
Myrna is unhappily married to Ruel Johnson, a man who believes his wife
should stay home and pamper herself. He dotes on her accordingly, but
Myrna isnt satisfied with sitting at home and living the life of a rich mans
wife. Instead, shed rather be writing, which Ruel largely condemns. A man
by the name of Mordecai Rich begins visiting Myrna while Ruel works.
Mordecai shows interest in Myrnas stories, and she allows him to read the
drafts of the secret writing she has been working on. The two begin an affair
behind Ruels back. One day, Mordecai leaves and doesnt return. Myrna
learns later that he has published a novel whose plot is exactly the same as
the one of the drafts she showed him. Ruel knows about the affair and moves
Myrna to a bigger house in the hopes that a new house will ignite a spark in
Myrna, make her forget Mordecai, want to have children with Ruel, and live
the sort of life he thinks befitting for a woman. Myrna secretly takes birth
control and plots ways to kill Ruel, though she never does. The story ends
with Myrna relenting in pampering herself the way Ruel wants, reveling in the
secret of her birth control and biding her time until she tells Ruel what shes
done and can leave him and her life with him behind, forever without once
looking back (23).
Application
This story was helpful in helping me establish a concept of structure for my
story. It was helpful to see another story told in a diary/journal format.
Myrnas diary is numbered by pages, and there are also dates leading into
certain sections to keep any confusion at bay. One issue that was pointed out
to me in the first draft workshop of my piece was that it was confusing how
the other documents were fitting into the journal. After establishing that the
outside documents would be things that Rebecca was collecting and keeping
between the pages of her journal, it made sense to utilize headers the way
that Alice Walker does with Myrnas diary pages. I was worried initially that it
would interrupt the flow of my project, but I think including the lead in dates
and descriptions of the outside works has really helped in establishing the
structure and setting of the piece.
Also, because I wanted to play with keeping the journal entries out of
chronological order, it was helpful to see a good example of when to place
certain sections of a journal in order to maintain the best sort of impact,
while also not creating chaos or confusion for the reader. Walker begins
Myrnas diary at the end, and comes full circle, which is the sort of structure I
want to use. What I learned was how often to move between the older and
newer entries, and how much information should be given in those initial
entries to give the reader enough information to make them want to keep

Williamson 22

reading while also not spilling all the beans so that there are no plot twists or
surprises for the reader to enjoy later on. It was really important to me to be
able to maintain a sort of mystery, and I think Alice Walker does a great job
of keeping the pulse of her story steady and urging the reader along to find
out what happens in Myrnas story.