Photo by Cara Lopez Lee When I read Lisa See’s   Snow Flower and the Secret Fan ,  I was captivated by the idea of two women sharing a history by exchanging notes in the folds of a fan. I teach young writers for Denver’s Lighthouse Writers Workshop , and I decided to create an exercise using fans. The opening of a fan is a vivid metaphor for storytelling. I often talk to writers about scenes in terms of opening a fan or accordion. It’s a dynamic way of visualizing the question, “What’s happening between the lines?” Sometimes we get so caught up in pushing a scene from point A to point B that we glide over opportunities for a more intimate look at the character’s experience. We may offer sensory descriptions, but overlook imbuing those descriptions with the way a character's emotional state and personal history affects the way the view looks, the way tones sound, the memories that smells evoke. We may write dialogue, but neglect to reveal the physical tells or intruding...

Humorist Slim Randles is our guest today with a bit of non.. er, fun from his friend, Windy, who sure does like to mess with words a bit. The Literacy Tree On a good, warm Saturday morning, you have your choice here in our valley: yard saling or livestock saling. Since Windy didn’t have much of a need to rummage through stacks of doilies or record albums starring Patti Page or the Kingston Trio , he headed for the sale barn. You see, Alphonse “Windy” Wilson doesn’t have a ranch or farm.  No, Windy was trolling for an audience. He tried the coffee shop, but there were just two ranchers there, and they were in an intense conversation. He walked around through the waiting pens, and it was there he saw the kids. There were three of them, teenage boys, chatting with each other, wearing hats and boots. Leaning on shovels. Windy knew what their jobs had to be and figured them as good audience fodder. “Shore is a flamtastic kinda day, ain’t it boys?” Windy said, maneuvering s...