On "8 Stories I'll Never Tell" by Ashley Cowger (804 words) ***

Cowger's "story," if it is to be called that, is really more a meditation on what is relevant as a story (in that sense, of course, Cowger's story, in breaking the rules of storytelling--no substantial plot--breaks them twice: choosing subjects that supposedly don't amount to worth of storytelling). I'm not sure that I agree with Cowger's analysis, that there are no stories here, but I understand the thinking. Do characters have to change? Most people don't, and much of my own fiction revolves around such people. Such stories, though, can be boring. People at least have to have an opportunity, I suppose--and turn that opportunity down--and many I know would say it has to the "last" opportunity, so that the story has resonance. That's tricky, though, telling a story without change, or even without a long-standing last chance for change, but in a way that it isn't boring. But then, I don't know that Cowger is saying that such stories aren't for telling--her very introduction of the subject suggests that there should be no limits on what constitutes the subject of a story. Hers is a compelling piece, no matter. Read the full explanation here at the Pedestal Magazine.