Under the Influence… of Stuart Dybek
By Kelly Luce
The first serious writing course I took was an undergraduate seminar on image taught by Stuart Dybek. Stuart stressed to us the importance of the well-chosen detail, the picture that would sear itself onto the reader’s retina all at once, creating a meaning-packet that was intuitively felt but also stood up to thematic interrogation. He gave an example that’s never left me: a drop of blood in a puddle of lime juice.
I don’t know whether this image came off the top of his head or if it was taken from a published piece by another writer; I don’t remember the context—whose blood it was and how she came to bleed, why there was lime juice or how it spilled—but I remember experiencing it: the contrast of the red invading yellow-green, the way the sphere of blood would pool and break apart in the less-viscous lime juice, and conflating as the mind does, I winced at the sting of citrus on an imaginary cut on my forearm. From Stuart I learned that image is more than visual; it’s full-body. I knew what the combination of those two liquids would smell like. I could even taste it: citric acid cutting the soft salt of blood. I no longer remember how this image served its narrative, or if that was even the point of the lesson. I simply know that from that moment on, image, for me, has meant more than clearly showing the reader something. It’s about creating an impression she can feel, that remains, like a thumbprint in clay.
Ten years later, Stuart’s example is still the standard to which I hold all images. During revision I might say to myself, That’s good, but is it blood-and-lime-juice good?
damn.
That’s so funny– I remember my college creative writing teacher using Stuart Dybek’s grain of sand in a condom from “We Didn’t” as the perfect example of how (literally) the smallest detail in a powerful image can have such a big impact. I’ve read “We Didn’t” maybe a dozen times, and I still come back to that image as evidence of the way good writing (as you illustrate in this post) can make you uncomfortable in such a vivid way.
Wow, powerful images!! I won’t forget them. The common element seems to be surprise. I love Dybek’s work, so it’s great to hear he’s such a good teacher as well.
I read this post two days ago, and I had to come back to say that the image (and sensation and smell and taste) of the blood in lime juice keeps flashing through me. Now so will the grain of sand in the condom, no doubt. Thanks for passing this along! I definitely need to read more Dybek.
Dybek has a knack for sharp, startling images–every time I swirl milk into something I think of “Pet Milk,” and since reading Kelly’s post, I’ve cut limes twice and thought of blood in lime juice both times. (Thanks?)