As a writer matures, they will generally find a common thread of interest in their material. It could be a theme, a trope, or even where they source their inspiration. As I speak with Adam Peltzman, author of “Debinar,” one thread becomes clear: finding humor in the mundane.
The grand-prize-winning short story finds Deb, a novice YouTuber, trying and failing to build an audience.
Deb watched the video back: She kept looking past the camera and scratching her arm and saying, “Um.” She couldn’t help comparing herself to Netty Schmidt, always so poised in her clothes-folding videos. In over 300 videos, Deb had never seen Netty scratch her arm. …
But then there was episode 132—“Learnings From the Drawer”—where Netty interviewed herself and said that the seventh most important lesson she had learned was: You have to start somewhere.
The story is sweet and surprising. We feel for Deb as she slogs through her job as a customer service representative. When she makes a connection with another YouTuber, we root for her. Mostly, the story is filled with gently awkward humor that everyone can relate to because we’ve all been Deb at one time or another, even if just in spirit.
“I find I enjoy the process of writing the most when it feels really improvisational,” Peltzman says when I ask him where that humorous voice comes from.
As we talk, we trace these threads back to the start of Peltzman’s writing career. Like most young writers, he explored
