Blue Girls and Love Story's

"Wreckage of Reason" was a thoughtful compilation of "XXperimental Prose" and it pushed me to think deeper about what writing is about. When I go to read a story I expect a beginning, middle,  and end. In these writings of prose oftentimes the writers jump right into stories or they jump all over the place as far as the time line goes. Sometimes I found this confusing and I wondered about what each writer was trying to say. I think most of these writing "XXperiments" are just that; experiments. They showcase emotion and feeling. The goal is not to be practical, but to explore internally. I can see how these writers used their writing to dive deeper into themselves and to learn about themselves in that process.
"The Blue Girl" by Laurie Foos intrigued me because the blue girl was incredibly creepy. I wanted to know: What was the point of the blue girl? There were so many mysteries in this story and so many unanswered questions.  For instance, why did the women feed the blue girl moon pies and what secrets were they seeking to hide? This story has some great detail in it. Foos writes, It is then that we hear the blue girl's breath. Her breath sounds like the water shooting up that day at the lake, the water that Audrey pounded out of her lungs. The sloshing breath grows louder, sucking in and then nothing." (p. 41) The whole tone of this story is dark and I constantly got the feeling that the blue girl was evil. She seemed to have everyone in the town under her spell. In this quote there is a description of the blue girl's wheezy breath. It includes vivid images that speak of guilt like when Foos talks about the day at the lake when she speaks of the blue girl's breath. Blue girl is vividly decribed also when Foos writes, "Slowly Audrey turned the blue girl on her side, the swirls of veins and blood pooling in her bare arms and back..." (p.37). When I read stories I get so caught up the worlds they create that I don't realize that the writer's description is actually simple. It is like an impressionist painting. When you look up close all you see is a bunch of dots or possibly lines and nothing seems that eloquent. However, when you take a couple steps back you realize that you are actually looking at a masterpiece of a painting. If you take each detail that Foos writes and look at it on its own her details may seem insignificant, but if you read the whole story together you realize how the details work beautifully together.
Masha Tupitsyn wrote a short story called "Cottage Life" that contained bunches of vivid imagery. In one line Tupitsyn writes, "I stood in the dark and held onto my age like a ballerina handle bar." (p. 167) I honestly don't even know what a "ballerina handle bar" is, but I love that image. It reminds me of an antique. Something that is extremely beautiful yet extremely fragile. I feel like ballerina's hold their beauty even in the midst of old age because of their grace and self-discipline. This small line of imagery inspired so much emotion in me. I also loved the imagery in the part where Tupitsyn writes, "You chose a ridiculous sized house. Like a little cottage for elves. Meanwhile, I'm almost six feet tall. I was slanted against its slanted edges, a world on my face." (p. 167) I love that this writer uses short simple sentences. I like to write long sentences full of words, but she writes these short remarks almost. It gives me the sense that she is simply talking and that that is okay. I think it is great how she compares her size to the cottage. The cottage is tiny and she is suffocated. We never see her write that she is suffocated, but we know that she felt that way because of the details that she includes. I love when she says, "a world on my face", because I get a picture of her face being pressed to the ceiling of the cottage. It is a wonderfully vivid image.
Summer Brenner writes a sad story called, YOU A Love WAR Story. This story was significant for me  because I have dealt with my own bouts of depression and it can definitely be a crippling disease. It is interesting for me to see a description of an outsiders point of view. I can feel the hopelessness in her writing. I can see how her partner's depression had created a general wearing down; of her, of her partner, and of their relationship. I could see this when she wrote, "These days I'm not good at pleasing you. I don't feel it's required, but but sometimes it's part of the compromise we've agreed to." (p. 258) I also think the lines, "I still love you, but you're not the same man so it's logical I don't love you in the same way. It makes you feel bad. Worse, it makes you feel small,"  show the weariness the depression caused (p. 259). Brenner doesn't use a lot of descriptive language in this story. She is describing a relationship that is foreign to anybody who it not a part of it so I believe she doesn't need to dress it up with fancy adjectives. I think that the simple story speaks for itself. It is here that I get back to picking out the correct details. It is ever important in fiction to choose the right details to lead your audience in the direction you want them to go. The fact that Brenner writes, Worse, it makes you feel small" is important. In depression, feeling small is a big part of the negative feelings. Depression cripples your mind and makes you feel small so you stop trying. In the end you accumulate reasons as to why you should not try and you become unmotivated. I think this was a perfect choice of description for Brenner to use. It showed what she wanted to tell in a very simple and short way.
Description is necessary to create a beautiful story.