The Monroe Minute
Observations on the craft and the quiet.
Welcome to the Archive.
The Monroe Minute is 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 Art of the Unsaid
Sometimes, the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all. I’ve been looking at how Hemingway turned silence into a masterpiece.
Keep reading...The Precision of the Knife
A single, piercing image can anchor an entire poem or chapter.
Keep reading...The First Draft’s Burial
You must be willing to lose the work you love to find the work that lasts.
Keep reading...The Commonplace Archive
Collecting the brilliance of others is an essential act of creative humility.
Keep reading...Márquez and the Ordinary Miracle
The supernatural only works when it is treated with the same mundanity as the weather.
Keep reading...The Variable Speed of Time
Prose has the power to stretch a second or compress a decade.
Keep reading...The Table as a Mirror
Hosting others provides a unique laboratory for studying human behavior.
Keep reading...Emily Dickinson and the Slant of Truth
Directness can sometimes blind; the most profound truths often arrive ‘slant.’
Keep reading...The Lens of the Outsider
Perspective is a filter that determines what the reader is allowed to feel.
Keep reading...The Geography of the Desk
A curated workspace functions as an external hard drive for the mind.
Keep reading...