Pam Dewey Writer

Category: Uncategorized

  • Coming Together and Saying Those Unsayable Things

    I lost my brother Karl to suicide a little over ten years ago. It is still hard for me to speak about, but I am slowly, getting better at saying those unsayable things. This summer I started working with Canvas Health, a non-profit organization that helps children, adolescents, adults, and families who struggle with mental…

  • How I Handle the Mean Reds

    I don’t believe everything happens for a reason. I find that saying to be, well, a bullshit platitude. I do understand the appeal of bullshit platitudes. When bad things are happening in your life, this phrase or phrases like it give you something to latch onto. It gives you hope there is a bigger cosmic…

  • I Wrote a Story + Editors Liked It = Story Published

    So. It. Happened. One of my stories was accepted for publication. You can read my flash fiction story “Everything They Said About You” at The Electronic Encyclopedia of Experimental Literature. Here it is: https://theeeel.com/everything-they-said-about-you-pamela-dewey/. Queue corks popping, dancing in the streets, general debauchery, etc. When I received the email stating the story was accepted, I…

  • How to Edit like a Serial Killer

    I like words. I like phrases that catch on my tongue. I like sentences that stop me, spin me sideways, and knock me on my ass. I write. It makes sense. However, I don’t think writing needs to be complicated. I mean, writing is inevitably complicated, but reading doesn’t have to be. I’m not trying…

  • 4 Things You Imply When You Say “You’ll Change Your Mind” to a Woman Who Doesn’t Want Kids

    When I was a young girl, I had a fake bottle with fake milk to feed my fake babies. I remember drawing a picture of a pink house with purple heart-shaped windows. A tiny, girly dream house for a tiny (mostly) girly girl and her babies. I even had a name picked out for my…

  • How to Destroy the Fear That Forms You

    I wouldn’t say I suffer from anxiety, not like a lot of people suffer from anxiety. But I have had three full-fledged panic attacks. One of attacks occurred while I was driving, which was a terrifying experience. I have never been particularly fond of driving. While I lived in New York, I didn’t have a…

  • Where Do You Get Your Ideas?

    Writing starts with an idea. Simple enough. Until you’re on deadline, cursor blinking faster than you can form a sentence, heart thumping in your chest, doubts erasing all thoughts of your writing ability. What is the story about? Who are the characters? What is climax? How will it end? To begin a story, you just…

  • Suffering Doesn’t Equal Great Art

    I fell in love with writing in the third grade. My teacher assigned us to finish a story- I think it was about camping- and I wrote page after page. I was hooked. When was in grade school, I liked to write longer stories. Around the time I was in junior high, my angst kicked…

  • Falling in Love, City After City

    The phone jolted me awake. It was 2:45 a.m., the earliest I’ve set an alarm. I’ve certainly been up that late, but to be mobile and functioning at this hour seems insane. The cab calls my phone at 3:15, and I say, “I’ll be right out.” My dachshund Max Wiener has realized something is up.…

  • How Not to Speak about Half the Population

    “Remember to always speak in a dull, monotone voice so as not to reveal any enthusiasm – remember, a passionate speech can be interpreted as ‘emotional,’ which is political suicide for a woman! You want to be seen as cold, determined, and unfeeling, but also not too cold, determined, and unfeeling, because then you’ll be…