“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” Samuel Beckett At the start of this summer, in June, my agent sent my new novel out to nearly a dozen publishers. I chronicled the process in blogs and newsletters and talked about it in class. I did this for two reasons. 1) […]
Update: On the Path to Publication: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
Okay, sorry about the hiatus last week. Lots has been going on at Casa Powers. Still and all, here it is. A couple of weeks go I mentioned the following as my goal to revising the piece: 1. It isn’t 100% quite “finished.” That is, my gut knows there is something not there yet about
Revising in Public: by Angie Powers Read More »
Now I know I wanted to get caught. One evening in my forties, I stared at the man writing, as usual, at the fourth table from the door by the window. My husband and I were in Hunan Pan, long since gone from Hudson Street, at our usual table two over from his, in the
Caught: Guest Blog by Melanie Lee Read More »
Four years ago today, the whole of the television-watching world tuned in to glimpse China and watch one hell of an Opening Ceremonies for the Olympic games. On 08-08-08. Who could forget the spectacle of the multitudes of synchronized drummers and dancers? It was a mesmerizing to watch, and I can still remember exactly where
Milestone Moment: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Life just has no sense of pacing. Plot events come rushing, pell mell, with no opportunity to make sense of them: people die, people break-up, storms rage causing airplane delays mostly, or national crises, cats disappear, jobs are won and lost, children born . . . and then there are days and days of jumbled routine,
Life v. Fiction: By Elizabeth Stark Read More »
One of the decided and unexpected pleasures of being a parent is reading aloud to my daughter. One of the less pleasurable aspects of this job is having to read that one book again and again and again and, “once more!” We are saved by writers like Maurice Sendak who wrote poetry in the disguise
Wild Things: Guest Blog by Julie Rappaport Read More »
In the Book Writing World, we have learned this about story structure: “The CRISIS is when the choice is made and the CLIMAX is when the choice is acted on.” That sounds good. Now, to the difficult question: What are your protagonist’s choices? What happens after your main character makes the first set of choices?
Bookends Revisited: by Devi Laskar Read More »
You know the saying, “tension so thick, you could cut it with a knife.” And there’s truth in that old cliché. What you’re working for, as a writer, is to grow plot, and make the scenes and setting and relationships in your characters’ world so untenable that you can taste the sweat and fear that
Tension so thick: by Devi Laskar Read More »
Five Things We Avoid That We’d Do Better To Embrace 1) Verbs: Make things happen in your sentences. Be alert for “There is/ are/ were” and “I felt/ heard/ saw/ noticed.” These usually can be cut and replaced with verbs, further into the heart of the sentence, that pack a much greater punch. Example: She
All current members of the Book Writing World (anyone currently enrolled in any BWW class or group) are invited to a Q & A with Thaisa Frank on 5-6p.m. (PST), Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012, to kick off the Fall quarter. Thaisa Frank is author of the novel, Heidegger’s Glasses, and most recently, Enchantment, which received
Save The Date! Thaisa Frank To Visit the BWW Read More »
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