Post to the Host
Host Garrison Keillor answers your questions about life, love, writing, authors, and of course, A Prairie Home Companion.
Prose in Shows
January 31, 2008 | 2 Comments
Mr. Keillor,
I was going to enter your Talent Contest for People in their Twenties only to find that what I regard as my talent - the writing of prose - does not qualify. Being a former struggling writer yourself, I am sure there is no one who can better appreciate the struggle of the writer in their twenties: the stream of rejections, the doubt (should I give up? Should I have given up three, four, nine years ago?) and the anguish of watching your best efforts disappear into the void of silence, unread... Remember how it was: before the book deals, before you saw your name in The New Yorker's index? How about expanding the definition of 'talent' to include prose?
Scott B.
Chagrin Falls, OH
If we expand the contest to include prose, then we'll have to plan on an eight-hour show, which is longer than what I care to do. A prose talent contest is sort of like a dance marathon or a six-day bicycle race: it takes a man with more stamina than I possess. But good luck to you. And don't sweat the rejections. I still get rejected all the time. Shake it off and get a good night's sleep and try again in the morning.
2 Comments
|
Previous Post: |
Next Post: |
Post to the Host Archive
- The Lake Wobegon Effect
- Longevity
- Abdication vs. Retirement
- Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility
- Memory
- Sarah Bellum
- Starting Over
- Do you get to laugh?
- Keep Looking Ahead
- Big City vs. Hometown
- Awful Timing for Love
- Write Funny
- Telling a Story
- Fathers and Daughters
- Big City Yearnings
- Performing in Public
- Visiting Denmark
- Breaking into Show Business
- Moving Back with Mom
- Surviving as a journalist
- Advice for a Competitive Campaign
- A Life-Changing Moment
- In Search of a Wedding Poem
- Trying to turn a passion into a profession
- Spring Break
- American Jokes
- Norwegian Immigration to Lake Wobegon
- One thing leads to another
- All Good Writing is Rewriting
- The Goodbye To Childhood You're On Your Own Now Ceremony
- Skiing in the Alps
- Competing against the young
- Finding confidence
- The value of public universities
- Ruining Lutefisk
- A Christmas Blizzard
- Memoirs
- How do I get noticed?
- Poetry and the Fairer Sex
- Developing a natural voice
- Pentecost
- Boycott
- Anonymous in the Big City
- Thanks to Ford
- Offended
- What happened to that "Sweet Biscuit Fiddle?"
- "Tom and Sally"
- NOTE FROM THE HOST
- SFX Lady??
- Missing The Old Scout
- Live in San Diego
- So Where's Sinclair?
- This is my first big trip away from home. Any advice for a first-time traveler?
- How come the house band is called The Shoe Band?
- October 21 Cinecast
- Getting into the Radio Business
- On the 12th Floor of the Acme Building...
- Going to the Big City!
- 73 Days of Summer Vacation
- Help with a Eulogy
- Where Do I Start?
- Fantasy League Whippets
- Clergywomen in Lake Wobegon
- The more you write, the better it gets
- The Voice
- A Note from GK about Retirement
- Low Self-Esteem
- Useless Degrees
- Car Bomb
- The Dog-Ears of Summer
- Dealing with Disappointment
- Rejection Letters
- English Majors Strike Again
- 7th Grade Report
- GK Responds to Cinecast Posts
Complete Post to the Host Archive
Lauren | February 1, 2008 8:50 AM
I've been planning to submit one of the stories that I tell--a la "The News from Lake Wobegon." I couldn't decide if the rules allowed for that. The more general directions said "talent" while the upload instructions said "music." I guess this post tells me not to submit it.
Su | February 6, 2008 3:15 PM
I was in a creative writing class where I received praise from fellow students on several stories I wrote. They were referred to as my "Prairie Home Companion/Guy Noir" stories.
Do you accept other stories and scripts, and if so,
what is the submission process?
Sorry, this isn't creative or witty now. I'm in my mondo todotoday mode.
Su