Today on our show, we're talking about objects. Things like a pen, trash cans, reading glasses, and a scale. We can build stories around these things because these objects affect our lives. They can stand in for an emotion. The phrase for this is object correlative. T.S. Eliot used this phrase to describe “a set of objects, a situation, a chain of events which shall be the formula of that particular emotion.”

We asked students in our class to write about an object. You will hear prompt responses from three students. Allison Langer writes about dependence on reading glasses. The glasses represent age and loss. Liz Marquardt writes about garbage bins, which become symbolic of the frustrations of a long-term marriage. Maya Kieffer gave the same prompt to her poetry students in a class she facilitates through Exchange for Change at the Dade Correctional Institution, and we learn how an object can reveal so much about perspective. In a longer, edited story, Margery Berger, takes us into her world through her life-long relationship with her scale. Each student takes an ordinary object and shows the object’s impact in their world. And because of that process, we feel the emotion each object represents for the narrator.

Thank you for listening to Writing Class Radio.

Writing Class Radio is a podcast where you’ll hear true personal stories and learn a little about how to write your own stories. Writing Class Radio is equal parts heart and art. By heart we mean the truth in a story. By art we mean the craft of writing. No matter what’s going on in our lives, writing class is where we tell the truth. It’s where we work out our shit, and figure out who we are. There’s no place in the world like writing class and we want to bring you in.

Writing Class Radio is produced by Virginia Lora, Allison Langer (www.allisonlanger.com) and Andrea Askowitz (www.andreaaskowitz.com).

If you have a business or a startup and need help telling your story, Andrea will come to your office and teach all your employees how to better articulate why they do what they do. Do it! Stories sell. Allison will come to your retreat and help guests write through their shit so they can live free and happier. Or, hire her to help your high schooler refine his/her college essay.

Visit our musicians page to learn about the talented and generous people who allowed us to use their songs.

There’s more writing class on our website(www.writingclassradio.com), Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/writingclassradio/) and Twitter (@wrtgclassradio). You can make writing a daily practice. We have a growing community of listeners who respond to our daily prompts and give feedback to each other. Join the party. Click on Daily Prompts on our website.

If you love the lessons you get on each episode, you can get them ALL in one place--our three-part video series. $20 for one part or $50 for the series. Click on Video Classes on our website.

Writing Class Radio is now open to submissions from our listeners. Go to the submissions page on our website for guidelines. We pay!

If you want to be a part of the movement that helps people better understand each other through storytelling, please go to writingclassradio.com and hit the DONATE button.

So you’ve written an essay. Or you’re almost finished. Now what? Where do you send your story for publication? How do you format a story? Do you need a cover letter? We have the answers in a FREE publishing guide. To get our guide, join our mailing list. Go to writingclassradio.com and hit the sign up button. Or send an email to info@writingclassradio.com.

For those who like a schedule, look for a new podcast episode on the first Wednesday of every month. There’s no better way to understand ourselves and each other than by writing and sharing our stories. Everyone has a story. What’s yours?