In the August 30, 2015, issue of the New York Times, an essay in the Magazine section caught my attention. Called “Standstill,” by Sam Anderson, it is an essay about “the political world’s obsession with the moment.” Acknowledging that modern humans weren’t the first to consider “the moment,” Anderson looks back to the Greeks to explain two different kinds of time: … chronus (the vast, inhuman, … [Read more...]
The Editorial Process
In a conversation the other day with a friend who is a new writer, I bemoaned the fact that I am responsible for more work, editorially speaking, than I should be. Since I work with self-publishers and with clients who tend to self-publish, I am often the sole line editor, copy editor, and proofreader for a manuscript. “That’s not how it’s normally done?” my friend asked. “Oh, no,” I said, … [Read more...]
Show and Tell
No, I’m not talking about kindergarten class. I’m talking about that most common piece of writing advice: Show, don’t tell. I have found some writers, however, take that too literally and believe everything must be shown, to the detriment of their stories. So, I prefer to call it show and tell. I am going to rely in part on an essay by Anna Keesey titled “Making a Scene,” which I found in The … [Read more...]
Connections over Conflicts
The most comprehensive book on writing that I own is Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft by Janet Burroway. I started thumbing through it the other day, looking for what Burroway had to say about how to begin a book. I didn’t find exactly what I was looking for. Rather, I found a discussion on conflict that approached it from an intriguing aspect. The traditional narrative arc of a … [Read more...]
From Short Story to Screenplay
I got an email from one of my students last week. A short story she brought to class earlier this year is now a screenplay. Not only that, it is going to become a film. There’s a director, a cast, props, probably even coffee and doughnuts. A little backstory, though, to explain how Pam went from short story to screenplay. Last year Pam brought to class a short story about a suicidal man … [Read more...]
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