Claude Monet | Garden at Sainte-Adresse | The Metropolitan Museum of Art (metmuseum.org)
Postcard Story – Garden at Sainte-Adresse – Claude Monet – 1867 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art
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Oldest Daughter – 10/27/20
…and he said that this was one of his favorite paintings, a Monet, a painting he wrote about in his story about being on a tour of Impressionist paintings. And she said she could see how he would include it, for so apparent upon the canvas was the life and beauty of a moment captured of a harbor filled with boats…or is it ships…she never really had reason to remember…and the wind with the flags and the smoke from the ships and the clouds…and the elegant, well-dressed people taking in the beautiful scene and relaxing…and this she said to him, and added that this must be why it was in his story, and she smiled. And he smiled, and then he said, “No, not really, it is in the story just because it was on the tour”. He paused, still smiling. “Remember, it was non-fiction, a story much like an Impressionist painting, yes…” “What? You didn’t plan this?” “No, it was on the tour, and I used it as it was and wrote of everything going on around it and also within me, but it wasn’t planned, it just happened, I wrote about it as it was. That’s life, that’s 97% of nonfiction for me, and maybe that’s why I like nonfiction and Impressionist paintings. Did you like the story?” …“Well, dad to tell you the truth…it was nice…but I didn’t understand all of it.”… “Well, I don’t understand everything, about all the things that I write, but that’s life…and it probably is the real reason why I write…at least one of the ones that I know…”
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When was this?
Postcard Stories are for the most part fiction, but many times I use real life personalities and at times I will write conversations or situations that could have occurred, or that fit the times of life or inner thoughts of a person that to me seem proper and appropriate. And Postcard Stories are written without outlines and begin with a small central thought, and I usually have an idea of where I want to go with the story, but as with all fiction I write, the characters and the story take on a life of their own and I just allow them to live as seems natural and let the story unfold itself. Many times I’m really surprised where the story actually went and how it ended. That’s why I have said that the Postcard Stories are a vacation for me, because with my non-fiction I have to work and rework what I write to make it as close to the actual events and of how I deeply felt about the story as it unfolded, whereas with fiction I just let it live and allow it to naturally grow into what it will.
In the Fiction Category on the website, go to the “Occasional Fiction” subcategory and read the posting of “On the Picadilly Line to Heathrow…” I wrote this on a flight from London back to L.A. and I think it is one of the best short fiction pieces I have written. Also look at the comments below the story. At times when I read it when I am alone, it will still bring tears to my eyes, which is because, I suppose, of how much of myself I invest and is suffused in what I write.