My fiction instructor has compared my writing voice to those of others. She’s implored me to study them, so I can figure out how to work deeper and harder with my own characters and stories.
I’m exploring Amy Hempel now. These are the last two paragraphs of her story “In A Tub”:
Most of the time you don’t really hear it. A pulse is a thing that you feel. Even if you are somewhat quiet. Sometimes you hear it through the pillow at night. But I know that there is a place where you can hear it even better than that.
Here is what you do. You ease yourself into a tub of water, you ease yourself down. You lie back and wait for the ripples to smooth away. Then you take a deep breath, and slide your head under, and listen for the playfulness of your heart.
Like that scene in Seven Pounds! Aww… made me sad.