new guest blog

here is a blog that will soon appear on relief journal's website to coincide with the release of their latest journal issue that includes one of my stories. stop by their site and order a copy to get my latest :o)

Birthing Stories

Every one of my stories has its own birth, its own coming of age and its own release. For me the process of a story nearly always begins with a voice in my head – the unspoken sound of someone who cannot tell his/her story without my help. “I Read Chekhov” began with particularly startling sounds and images and as I followed the journey of those sights and sounds, a story was born. This reality still surprises me. I am continually amazed by the creative process, by my own participation in it, and by how little control I have over that which wants to be born.

Once the story has been spilled onto the page, it comes of age through the wrestle of editing. But no matter how much work I do, or how many other writers or editors read it for me, a story is never finished until it is seen by readers. Writing is a solitary process but it requires an audience to be complete. This is the point at which I release the story into the hands of those who finish it. There is no story without an audience…without a reader a story is merely a shout in the dark. If you read “I Read Chekhov” in the pages of Relief Journal, you become my audience; you finish the work I began.

When a new play opens, there is often a “talk back” with the playwright. Here the audience can talk to the author of the show about how they received the words of the play. In the spirit of that, if you want to have a conversation with me about “I Read Chekhov” after it “opens” in Relief, please email me through my website at www.stacybarton.com. In the meantime, thank you for reading; you give my stories a place to go.