MENTORSHIP RECIPIENT

Mentor Commentary:
Isaiah Hunt

Recipient Reflection: 
​Abigail Carlson

On the Revision Process for "We Will Not Leave Each Other, Never So Long as We Live"

by Abigail Carlson

Northeast Ohio Writer

It’s a gift to find a reader who pays your writing close attention, and it’s a joy to work with an editor who can see your writing’s heart. So what a rare, joyful gift it was to work with Isaiah Hunt on revising my short story, “We Will Not Leave Each Other, Never So Long as We Live.”

This piece emerged as most of my stories do: a first line that uncoiled into a narrative. Its influences spanned from fairy tale to family, written as part of my MFA back in Ye Olde 2018, a pandemic and a few lifetimes ago. Since those drafts it’s largely languished. It was hard to tell where to go with it, but I’d pull it out now and then, spit shine it, send it out into the world. I was delighted to hear that it had caught Isaiah’s attention, and even more so that I’d get his feedback on it. 
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Which was incisive, meaningful feedback from the get. Feedback that saw the bones of the story, what it was doing, what it wanted to do. His insight helped me sharpen the duller edges and cut deeper to what I always wanted it to be. Isaiah’s thoughts and comments shone new light on the story and helped me see it with fresh eyes (I wrote this before the Man vs. Bear debate, believe it or not, dots that I didn’t connect until Isaiah pointed them out). I left each conversation with Isaiah invigorated to write as if this was a brand new story, and I am thrilled with how it shines in its latest draft. With its new title, too, from Isaiah. I cannot thank him enough for the fire he lit under this piece and under me as a writer. It’s a better story, and I can’t wait to share it with the world.

Abigail Carlson

Abigail Carlson was raised in Ohio and received her M.F.A. from New Mexico State University. Her work has previously appeared in The Journal and the Rappahannock Review, and she lives with her partner and dog in northeastern Ohio, where she works from home, writes distastefully sad stories, and pays careful attention to local birds.