14 Comments
User's avatar
Antonio Castellaneta's avatar

I really enjoyed the self-awareness running through this piece. What begins as a reflection on storytelling gradually becomes something much more vulnerable about uncertainty, waiting, and the urge to delay what we fear.

The ending quietly reframes everything that came before it. Thought-provoking and beautifully written.

20th Century Fox's avatar

I love that you’re able to see all that!!

Peter Zawal's avatar

A wonderful piece for self-reflection. And I don't mean you, Sylvie, I mean we the readers.

20th Century Fox's avatar

I really appreciate that, Peter!

MoTy's avatar

Well, Antonio and Steve have already framed the answer pretty extensively. What’s left for me to say is this: yes, girl, you’re impatient, and that’s exactly the beauty of being you. Your stories always arrive with a sarcastic bang, somehow inseparable from the writer behind them. Both are immensely lovable x

20th Century Fox's avatar

In this case, impatience is my virtue. 🤓 thank you so much for your incredibly positive feedback. I never know how to respond, but it lands deeply and lives in my restless lil heart.

MoTy's avatar

It is a virtue, stay cool 😎

Virginia Curtis's avatar

This is relatable to me in a few ways: I detest boring backstory and excessive narration. I think your yellow coat woman represents those endless possibilities as a writer that can go any way but we want her to be urgent, necessary, and remarkable. I do that bed delay the day away whenever I can. Love,Virg

20th Century Fox's avatar

Yes that’s it!! urgent, necessary, and remarkable! 💋💋💋

Ray Sweatman's avatar

I'd much rather read you

Chris Keller's avatar

i feel this. i am certain it will come to you … based upon everything i have read from you in the past.

(i am curious about the Tourette smoking heroine.)

20th Century Fox's avatar

I have a plan for her. But I’m going to try and let her take the lead. Xxxx S.

Steve Baker's avatar

Dear Sylvie,

You write with that restless impatience that feels like standing barefoot on a Gulf Coast porch at 5 a.m., dust on your boots, watching the sky lighten while your mind refuses to settle. You’re right ... some stories drown themselves in backstory, in birds meant to symbolize something, in meaning that never quite lands. You cut through all that. You go straight to the woman in the yellow coat, the cigarette, the Tourette’s tic, the famous parent, the whole invented life that could turn any direction because you’re not interested in waiting for permission.

There’s a raw honesty in the way you admit you’re lying in crisp sheets, aching for no reason, stretching time because bad news is pacing the hallway. Infinity, jet lag, impostor syndrome ... you name them without flinching. Most people hide that. You don’t.

And maybe that’s the point. Some writers build worlds out of ospreys ... and others use metaphors.

You build them out of the ache at 5 a.m., the woman in the yellow coat, and the truth that sometimes nothing arrives fast enough to feel necessary.

A story doesn’t need a long road ... just the right moment, and you know how to catch it.

Steve