I was recently listening to Sherman Alexie read and discuss a Jessamyn West story on the New Yorker fiction podcast. When Deborah Treisman, the fiction editor of The New Yorker, asked Alexie if the story had a subtext or was really as simple as it seemed, he said that it definitely had a subtext; in […]
The Thanksgiving Story as Structure: Ways to View Our Writing: By Elizabeth Stark Read More »
“What could possibly go wrong?” This question has assumed an iconic (and ironic) place on this tour, and it’s used as a joke whenever someone suggests an activity or destination. We’ll always make fun of a situation – “How about we go to this sushi place and try the blowfish?” “What could possibly go wrong?”
There’s something funny about the way I write. I always start with a situation that, really, with a little patience and common sense, anyone could navigate their way out of it. For example, let’s say I have a character named Rebecca, who is on her way to a very important meeting, the one that will
Over the course of this year’s election cycle you were probably inundated with emails urging you to contribute hard cold cash to one of the campaigns for President of the U.S. of A. Many pundits credited President Obama and his team for a fantastic “ground game.” That’s when the all the hard work and intensive
NaNoTIP: Don’t write excessively long, winding, meandering sentences or phrases or paragraphs full to bursting, redolant with, literally stuffed with redundant, repetitive, overly-used adjectives, adverbs, coordinate or otherwise. Remember, you want your messy, shitty first draft to be useful to you later. Need to ramp up your word count? Don’t run in circles around your
NaNoTIP: Making It Happen: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
My problem was that I wanted to put a sex scene in my murder mystery but didn’t know where to start. Clarissa (my protagonist) had to mention the murder on some level while being intimate with Hord, the investigating detective. So, there were two challenging goals: crime and sex. That is when I tapped into
12 Steps to Good Sex…Scenes: (Guest Blog) by Bree LeMaire Read More »
NaNoWriMo is underway. For those of you still chugging along – Congratulations! It’s a huge thing to do. It’s funny that we need an outside structure sometimes to make us do what we burn to do. Rather than bemoan the fact, I’m glad that there are so many wonderful structures out in the world to
Educational Antagonists: by Angie Powers Read More »
Want a jump start a scene? Try pretending. Pretend you’re the character that you’re trying to write about, and pretend you’re about to go on stage to deliver your lines. What are your lines? Think of three sentences your character would say aloud, and then think of three different people who would respond to these
Understudy’s Recipe: by Devi Laskar Read More »
1) Start loose, just getting words on the page. How is it so easy to forget the magic of that act? How lively are our minds, our imaginations! We cannot shut them up. Stop and listen for a bit. (Try this with children, too–it works miracles against temper tantrums, transforms routine irritation into marvelous conversation.)
Five Steps to a Brilliant Writing Practice: by Elizabeth Stark Read More »
Following Angie Powers’ simply marvelous exercise about shame & sketchy characters on Friday, I want to give a few minutes worth of attention to the notion of reporting. Reporting is not just for journalists and other writers of nonfiction. Reporting is a state of mind: it is “news” gathering, research, and an invaluable skill to attain.
Reporting Live: by Devi Laskar Read More »
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