The Centifictionist

David S. Hendler’s 99 word microfiction, “History is a nightmare from which I am trying to awake.”, will appear in the first issue of The Centifictionist (Vol. 1, Issue 1, Spring/Summer 2020). David graciously answered a few brief questions for us. Read the interview below.

1. What inspired the story “History is a nightmare from which I am trying
to awake.”?

I love Jewish history. It’s crazy to me that even though we have 4000 years
of history and culture, we focus so much on the Holocaust. The circularity
of the piece reflects my Sisyphean efforts to move past it.

2. What inspires you and your writing?

I’m usually trying to solve a question. When looking for an answer, I’ll
ask myself, “Well, what if…?”

3. What keeps you going when experiencing times of misery and despair?

Writing. I look at it like a problem and try to work it out—through poems,
prose, just journaling—not trying to write a thing, but just getting words
out. Despair can be a mind killer, stopping creativity. When I hit those
roadblocks, I try to externalize it in writing and keep going. Pressfield
talks eloquently about Resistance in creative fields; read him. Despair is
Resistance. As long as I keep fighting, it has not won.

4. What advice do you have for microfiction writers?

100 words allows for pliability for craft. You don’t have to be tied to any
given draft. Write the same thing over five or seven or ten times. There’s
lots of little ghosts floating around. You can find all kinds of new things
by posing your work from different perspectives (one character, another,
third-person, what the furniture thinks of what’s going on, what an animal
sees), or writing it as quickly as possible, as slowly as possible, etc.

5. Is there anything else that you would like people to know about you
and/or your writing?

The dogs are whining for breakfast, so I have to go now. Oh, and I am
extremely thankful for all this.

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David S. Hendler earned a degree in writing from the University of California, San Diego. He was taught by Quincy Troupe, Victor Hernandez Cruz, and Kathy Acker. After working for several companies as a senior corporate writer, he has returned to his love of personal stories. As a poet, he won the title of Slam Poetry Champion of San Antonio and appeared in the documentary “Slam Planet.” His one-man show, “Living Under Water” won him a “Best of Fest” honor in Austin’s Short Fringe Festival. He can be found on twitter @freetaco.