Caleb Jacobo's Writing Journal

Behind the Story: Evening at the Bus Stop

December 10, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

Yesterday I posted a story sketch “Evening at the Bus Stop” about an old man and a distressed woman having a conversation in which both are unable to really listen to each other. Today I want to go over some of steps that I took to complete that sketch.

It all started with an idea. I knew I wanted to write a story sketch. I hadn’t written one in a while and they are, in my opinion, the best kind of practice a creative writer can do. The initial idea, the spark that got me going, was the Buddhist parable of the mustard seed. You might have heard it, but if not, you can read a version of the story here.

Story Sketch: Evening at the Bus Stop

December 9, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

It’s six o’clock in the little town of Layton, Utah. The sun has already set and the sky is covered with a seeming endless coat of dark clouds. On Main Street, at a small bus stop, sits a woman in a purple windbreaker. Her short, curly hair is newly dyed the blackish-red color of old blood. She is nearly elt

ifty, bent forward, looking down at her off-brand sneakers, wrapping herself with her arms and rocking back and forth. An old man with seventy-five years and a heavy, goose-feathered coat on his back, carrying a small present wrapped in golden paper, tied with a thick, red bow, slowly lowers himself onto the damp bench beside her.

Why Do We Tell Stories? – Part 2

December 8, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

Yesterday I spent some time on the question of why we tell stories. I started by going over the functions of story outlined by professor Harvey. Today I wanted to break from her list and start listing some functions of story that I observe, note any overlaps, and examine these functions more closely. I would also like to try and identify which functions of story are most important for socially impactful creative writing, since this is what I am most interested in.

I’ll start with a divergent thinking technique. I’m going to make a list, as long as I can make it, of all the things that a story can do. Remember, in divergent thinking, one does not go for quality, but quantity. Some of the items in the following list might seem silly and many will overlap, but bear with me.

Why Do We Tell Stories?

December 7, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

“Let’s start at the very beginning / A very good place to start”
—Julie Andrews, The Sound of Music

Today, as Julie Andrews suggests, I want to go back to the beginning and explore a basic question: Why do we tell stories? Not only in creative writing, but in daily life as well.

A couple of years ago I listened to a lecture series by Professor Hannah B. Harvey, an Adjunct Professor in the Storytelling program at East Tennessee State University, on the art of storytelling. While Harvey focused mainly on oral storytelling, nearly all of her lectures are also applicable to creative writing. In the beginning of the series, Harvey lists some of the functions of story. I would like to use this list as a starting point for my own investigation into the reason we tell stories, what functions they serve, then in later entries explore what story is.

It’s Time for a Change

December 6, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

I’ve been busy with my non-writing work and with launching a new business, so for the first time in four years, I’m having difficulty finding time to write, which is unacceptable. For the past four years I’ve had nearly unlimited time to study the art and craft of writing and to put that study into practice, but now that my time is being sucked away by other responsibilities, I need to find a way to integrate writing study and practice back into my schedule.

Fred the Zombie: Part IV

August 11, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

You are reading part IV of this periodical. Click here to read part III.

That evening, as the other zombies harass a broken-down Ford Explorer full of an unfortunate group of survivors, and the chirping of crickets mingle with the moans of the dead, Fred and Tiffany stroll shoulder to shoulder down the street.

Fred had thought for a long time how to say what he needed to say to Tiffany, but he is no closer to forming the words now in death than he was in life. The surge Fred feels in his heart is almost enough to start it beating again, but his tongue lie still in his throat.

Fred the Zombie: Part III

July 29, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

You are reading part III of this periodical. Click here to read part II.

Fred blinks, trying to decide if he is seeing things. Is this really Tiffany here before him, sharing the flesh of the same corpse? Dare he believe his rotting eyes? But there she sits, and here he sits, and — what is he waiting for?

“Tee-fee-nee…” Fred mumbles, hardly audible over the slopping of meat and the snorting grunts of his eager dinner-mates.

Fred the Zombie: Part II

July 17, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

You are reading part II of this periodical. Click here to read part I.

Tiffany D. had been the lead check girl at the Ralph’s where Fred worked. She was an aster of optimism in a garden of disgruntled weeds, a girl who smiled for every customer, made small talk with the elderly, and always found time to chat with Fred at the end of a twelve-hour shift.

Fred wanted to say so many things during these chats, things that the people on his T.V. shows might say. Bold things. True things. About how he couldn’t get her smile out of his head, how he wished he could be everything to her that she was to him. But he never said a word of these things to Tiffany. Fred’s paralysis of the tongue in all matters of the heart was complete.

Fred the Zombie: Part I

July 13, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

Fred the Zombie

Fred is a typical zombie. He enjoys shambling through the streets, staring blankly into the sun on hot days, chasing after stray dogs, and, naturally, feasting on the flesh of the living. Yes, Fred partakes in all the typical luxuries of the undead — thriving in some ways — in a once-heavily-populated-and-well-fed community. But Fred is not happy.

In life, young Fred was a barely-eager bag-boy at the local Ralph’s grocery store in the small west-coast town of Lowe. He worked long hours at odd times, took less money than he thought he was worth, and kept to himself more than he liked. He had as much ambition as a lifer without the chance of parole. There was only one reason Fred continued to get out of bed and drag himself to work each day: a young checker named Tiffany D. But Fred could never bring himself to make his feelings known to her.

Writing Prompt: write a short magical realism story about loneliness

February 12, 2015 by Caleb Jacobo Leave a Comment

Hello you. Here is a short story sketch I wrote about a Pygmalion-like character with some twists on the original myth. I hope you enjoy it.

Giroff spread the crinkling blinds and peered down on a group of friends passing under his window. His eyes were bloodshot and the flesh around them was swollen and an ugly shade of purple. He stared at the young friends—not so young, maybe not even younger than himself—laughing as they strolled, this one putting a gentle hand on that one’s shoulder, all of them slowing their pace for one who lagged behind, then all welcoming him with playful jeers as he caught up.

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