The Monroe Papers
Observations on the craft and the quiet.
Welcome to the Archive.
The Monroe Papers are a series of entries focused on the art of storytelling, the architecture of a good sentence, and the pursuit of a mindful creative life. I spend my time here sorting through the noise of the digital world to find the quiet truths that help us write better stories.
Below, you will find my latest entries, organized by date. I hope you find exactly the thread you were looking for.
The Sound of a Quiet Room
Silence is never absolute; it is composed of the house’s breathing.
Keep reading...Hemingway and the Iceberg
True narrative power comes from the seven-eighths of the story left underwater.
Keep reading...The Architecture of the Noun
Specificity provides the anchor that allows abstract ideas to float.
Keep reading...T.S. Eliot and the Still Point
At the still point of the turning world, the most profound stories are born.
Keep reading...The Weight of the Unwritten
A blank page is not a void, but a presence to be respected.
Keep reading...The Ghost in the Finished Draft
Once a story is finished, it belongs to the reader, and the author becomes the ghost.
Keep reading...Edgar Allan Poe and the Single Effect
A story should be a perfectly sealed vessel for a single emotion.
Keep reading...The Scent of Old Paper
Research is more than data; it is a sensory immersion into another world.
Keep reading...Editing for Breath
Your sentences should allow the reader to breathe at the right intervals.
Keep reading...Bram Stoker and the Power of the Document
There is a unique voyeuristic thrill in reading someone else’s mail.
Keep reading...Narrative Causality
Plot is not a series of things that happen; it is a chain of consequences.
Keep reading...The Creative Uniform
What we wear can remove unnecessary decisions from the creative day.
Keep reading...