on leaving the party.

in college i took several writing classes under poet and novelist eileen myles. she always brought an anecdotal object into the class to center the day’s lesson, whether the object was figurative or literal depended on her mood.

the lesson that stuck with me the most was a story she told us about going to parties with one of her friends. toward the end of the night he would signal to her, and in the next sixty seconds his coat would be on and he would leave without saying goodbye to anyone in the room. finally she asked him what the deal was, and his response was something like, ‘you have to know when to exit a room and saying goodbye to everyone throws off the dynamic.’

she applied this to writing a story by saying that you need to know when to get the hell out of there. don’t over-explain. when things are good, put a period at the end of the sentence and exit. solid advice.