Local Author Reeds at NIC Writing Center
Trestle Creek Review hosted local author Elliot Reed at NIC’s writing center.
Reed grew up in Virginia, Prague, and Missouri; he currently resides in Spokane.
Reed explained his book as a story about a young man defining and exploring the terms of his reality. The book’s chapters are written alphabetically in encyclopedia format. The story progresses chronologically, narrated by a young boy rafting down a river in search of his father, who may or may not be dead. The passages Reed shared were full of vivid imagery and wit.
“I started by writing just a series of responses to these life hacks online,” Reed said. “You see these life hacks like, ‘You’ll never eat an apple the same way again after you read about this,’ or, ‘how to clean your microwave with a bowl of water.'”
Reed chose online “life hacks” as writing prompts, trying to poke a bit of fun at them as long as they were interesting to him. Though they could be seemingly random, one topic would naturally connect to another, and then he’d write about that. After writing about 60 of these obscure topics, he realized that they were all being authored by the same voice. He decided to put them into “something someone would like to read about.”
When asked by a student if the encyclopedia structure of the book felt limiting, Reed said it was a “liberating kind of trap.” Because writing a book can be dauntingly wide open, it makes it easier if you know what you’re writing next starts with an “L.”
The first drafts of Reed’s stories are typically typed up on his typewriter and then transcribed onto a computer.
“I like it because it feels official,” said Reed.
Some influences for Reed were Padgett Powell’s book “Interrogative Mood,” which is written exclusively in questions, and the short chapters of “The House On Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros.
Teachers, students and staff alike engaged with Reed and asked questions. Many members of Trestle Creek Review and the English club were in attendance.
“I write, and I want to be a part of this community so for me, [I] come and engage with this community to help and make my own community, to join in and learn, grow and learn how to write better,” said J. Lyon, student editor of Trestle Creek Review.
