I’m a short-story writer, and I frequently experience a creative gap between writing stories. I sit at my desk with an open notebook every morning. I listen to myself. If what I hear has life in its voice, I write down whatever words I can make out. Where do the words lead? What is their tone and point of view? Does a bigger picture emerge to surround and inhabit them? Does what I see create movement and come alive? Do I feel the momentum in my whole body?
For over fifty years I have felt a desire to write stories. I still feel that desire. I live in Galveston, Texas, a couple of minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. I am struck by the variety and relentlessness of the waves, the vast power of moving water. What is happening to sustain the forms of life within that water? I like to think of waves when I’m at my desk, their depths, their inherent sounds and movements. Their energy helps my mind move. All of this process is intuitive and part of a story’s foundation.
—Glen Pourciau, author of Under (Four Way Books, 2025)
Photo credit: John Grossman