Authors Talk: Bill Sommer

Today we are pleased to feature author Bill Sommer as our Authors Talk series contributor. Bill discusses his writing process and inspiration for “The Haircut” as well as “breaking your own rules.”

“The Haircut” was written in between drafts of a novel when Bill was struck by Ruth Ozeki’s experience writing about her face (which you can read here). Wanting to capitalize on the chance to write something short, Bill set out to write only one scene. As he went about this self-imposed challenge and eventually “failed” he discovered the limits of rules and the limitless potential of stories.

You can read and listen to Bill’s story in Superstition Review Issue 19.

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One thought on “Authors Talk: Bill Sommer

  • October 9, 2017 at 8:29 am
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    I really enjoyed Bill Sommer’s story “The Haircut,” so I was excited to listen to this talk. I thought it was so interesting, and important, when he mentioned that we can create our own rules for a story, and we can also break them. This was important for me to hear, because sometimes I will decide what I want a story to do, and then I’ll get so frustrated when it doesn’t work out that way. This was a great talk, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to listen to it!

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