![]() I may be a writer that has had to think more of them than most. I can say this: I’ve had bad knees my entire life. KL: “Knees like turned down saucers.” How did that wonderful simile reveal itself? The experience of a story, when it is at its best, is an accumulation of all the details so then it can deliver an unmistakable hurricane to your chest. I have done some odd things to assure I’ve gotten a detail or sensation correct. Or as Sorkin would say that is where the writer eats. LF: For readers, I believe that is where the connective tissue of writing is found. How conscious are you of these sounds and details while in the actual act of writing? KL: The short form is such a wonderful, mysterious alchemy of just the right sounds and details, not unlike poetry. If it rests, or as Amy Hempel used to say, “lands” that is always a great indicator to stop. It’s rare that when I am writing for me not to know it’s a flash piece. When I write flash it tells me- rather than something I decide beforehand. KL: Did you always know it’d be a short piece? In her case, that water represents so much more that just relieving a momentary thirst. That need for a glass of water, well we know that expression - give a character something to want. Now looking at it: the opposing factors at work were her last smidgen of hope and the stagnation that had taken over their lives, the world moving on without them. Maybe after a fight, or maybe after the last time they would ever sleep together. I do feel like I happened upon two people in a state of disrepair. ![]() Did you just drop in on them? Have you been living with these two characters for a while? How much (or how little) did you know about them before this story took shape? KL: You create these two characters, their lives, their situation, and render it so completely. I have since thanked that friend for those four words. My promise to myself was to use those four words (all W words go figure) and then I could go about my day. I texted a friend and said, give me four words. I remember sitting down that Sunday to fulfill my daily writing routine, and I was stuck. I think there are weird windows in writing where you step into something that feels like it was already happening and you are just lucky to be there in time to put the words down. Truth be told, I have no idea how I did it. Libby Flores: First off, thank you for those kind words. I guess I want to know: how the hell did you do that? And you accomplish all of this - this mood - in just over 100 words. Keith Lesmeister: There’s a kind of sensual ache in “Legs,” maybe even a touch of desperation, but it’s not romantic in the least. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll read it over and over again, trying to figure out how she accomplished this in so few words. Libby’s story “Legs” clocks in at just over 100 words and will take you a minute or two to read.
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