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A Piece of My Mind: Double
Trouble Bennet Pomerantz
A NOT TRUE STORYI was finishing doing a day long writers' workshop at a science fiction convention. I had just come back from the second afternoon break and looked out at the audience. When you do these workshops, you usually don't always look directly out at the sea of faces. I looked out at the people . . . some familiar, some new... and then I spied something weird from the back of the room. Someone I hadn't seen before. I looked at this person. He was dressed in a Rocky Horror Picture Show baseball cap, a black "anarchy rules" T-shirt, and black jeans. His face looked so familiar. Where have I seen his face before? "Excuse me," I spoke to this man directly. "Do I know you?" He smirked with a sly grin like my father had. "Well, we never met before. However, I would say yes and no." His voice sounded so customary to my ears. "Yes and no?" "Do you remember going to Balticon about fifteen years ago?" I nodded, trying to reflect about my past. "Remember that model of the time machine booth that was exhibited?" I nodded again. "Well I set the machine forward fifteen years in time to see what you been doing." "So, let me get this straight, you are me?" I questioned ."Yup, I am you!" He smiled boastfully. "And you are me!" The workshop audience moved their collective eyes from him to me. Most looked in disbelief just as I was. He stood up and all moved from him to me. The crowd at the workshop was as stunned as I was It felt like this was a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. I looked at this person and I remarked in my mind 'God, was I ever that young?' Questions filled my mind, 'How long had he been here? ...Why didn't I notice him earlier? ...How long was he staying? ...Has he done anything in my future I may regret later?" My young double remarked," I see you still doing that short story narrative hook as a workshop writing exercise. I did that recently with Allan Wold, Mike Allen and Hal Clement at Rising Star" "Ah, dear Hal!" I spoke in reflection. "Dear Hal?" he questioned I looked at him. "Hal passed away last year. I do miss him. He was an inspiration." "He still is. I must spend more time with him." I didn't know what to say to my double. If it was you, what would you do? "So, do I call you Bennet?" "Well I am you!" He replied. A young woman spoke up. "Mr. Pomerantz, I have a question." We both replied almost in chorus "Yes?" The woman looked bewildered. "Either one of you." We both nodded. "Why a short story narrative hook? I missed the first part of the session" I looked at my younger self. Why don't you take it?" He nodded and started to reply as he (well, I) had done so many times before. "A short story narrative hook is the way to bring your reader to their attention of your piece. In newspapers, they may call it a lead." "This is that who, where, what, why and how that newspaper editors talk about," I chimed in without missing a beat. My younger self just continued as if we spoke as one "An opening few paragraphs should keep the reader interested; so he or she wants to read more. Many hooks throughout a story keep readers and editors interested." " I know a few editors that skim from hook to hook. If the story works and keep them interested, they buy it!" I looked at her. "Does that help?" Can you give me an example of what you mean?" She asked I pulled out my USA TODAY and read "Janet Jackson does not have any children that she knows of . . . The famously secretive pop star broke her silence Wednesday on assertions by her former brother-in-law that she had a secret 18-year-old daughter . . . 'I do not have a child, and all allegations saying so are false,' Jackson said in a brief statement" My younger self spoke up without missing a beat "Shows all the five questions and makes you want to read more of the article. "So Bennet, " I addressed my younger self. "What are you doing here and how long are you staying?" My young self said "Bennet, you always hated to repeat yourself, well so do I. I told you before I was seeing what you are doing in the future. I looked you up, you seem to be doing good." "Well Bennet, you do know the secret about writing?" My younger self was taken aback. "The secret? What are you talking about?" "The mystic secret of writing . . . You must know it!" I slyly smiled seeming to put one over on younger myself His body started to fizz out. His body was slowly fading from view. "So what's the secret?" His body vanished out of sight. The girl who asked the earlier question said "So what's the secret?" "Just keep writing, that is the secret. If you learn anything today, writers find the joy in writing daily. And keep writing and creating." Final call!I am seeking answers to the immortal question for the Second Annual " When did you consider yourself a writer?" from writers from all avenues of writing (if you are reading this column, this DOES means you!). For those who need a word count, think 50-150 words. If you need a few more words to express yourself, its okay! Then e-mail your piece to audioworld@yahoo.com with the word WRITER in the subject line of your e-mail (NO ATTACHMENTS PLEASE!). The WRITER column will appear December in this space .Note. You will need to list your full name and not an email ID. And those with books coming up or web sites, you may list them after your name. Those who've already submitted, I have your pieces and thank you. Reach for the stars! **** |
About the Writer: Bennet Pomerantz is a media review columnist in
175 newspapers with his weekly column AUDIOWORLD. His fiction and
reviews have appeared in the pages of Affaire De Coeur, Gateways, Mystery
Scene, Power Star, The Hot Corner, Washington Entertainment Magazine, and
many others. He is also known for his review appearances on the MCN
Forum. View his web site at
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