D. Brody Lipton’s 100 word microfiction, “Anatomy Scan”, will appear in the first issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020). D. Brody graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below.
1. What inspired the story “Anatomy Scan”?
As part of her November Flash Fiction challenge, @nancystohlman asked writers to create a story that ends abruptly. It occurred to me that a sudden ending still needs to resonate, so when in my own experience have I been both desperate and terrified to learn what happens next? The answer is this story.
2. What inspires you and your writing?
I’m interested in finding significance in the small, the mundane. You step outside in the morning to go to work and something about the light in the sky or the smell of leaves reminds you of the summer camp you attended thirty years ago. It is sad and it is lovely. “And yet the ways we miss our lives are life.”
3. What keeps you going when experiencing times of misery and despair?
I mean, in life, my spouse and children. My whole family… It is hard to be miserable when I know I am so loved. Then, in writing, when I despair, I remind myself I have written before and I will write again and nothing is ever so terrible that it can’t be improved.
4. What advice do you have for microfiction writers?
For the first draft, write it all with abandon, don’t edit yourself. If there’s a part of a story you’re not looking forward to, then skip it. Say everything you want. Then edit. Sledgehammer, then cleaver, then scalpel. Be honest. Every word must contribute to a unity of effect.
5. Is there anything else that you would like people to know about you and/or your writing?
During Hurricane Harvey, I waded into the waist-high water of our flooded street and used a rake to clear debris from the blocked sewer drain, basically saving the city. My wife said it was the hottest thing I’ve ever done.
D. Brody Lipton studied creative writing and education at Sarah Lawrence College and Boston University. His stories have appeared in Spelk, Twist in Time, Literary Mama, CommuterLit, Aftermath Magazine, and Alternative Truths. He teaches in Houston, TX, where he lives with his spouse and two children. Twitter: @mrlipto.
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