Voice & Subtext Part 2

Jun 28, 2023 | Craft

When analyzing voice in literature, we also need to look at tone. In CRAFT IN THE REAL WORLD Matthew Salesses defines tone as an “orientation toward the world.” (vs. Aristotle “who describes emotion as an ‘orientation to the world.’” He writes, “if we think about what...

Voice & Subtext Part 1

Jun 23, 2023 | Craft

In The Art of Subtext, Beyond Plot, Charles Baxter writes, “A certain kind of story does not depend so much on what the characters say they want as what they actually want but can’t own up to. This inability to be direct creates a subterranean chasm within the story,...

The Tormented Artist According to Elizabeth Gilbert

Jun 11, 2023 | Book Reviews, Craft

In Elizabeth Gilbert’s book BIG MAGIC, I was drawn to the section about Trust and the notion of the Tormented Artist. The section opens with, “Does It Love You?” Gilbert dives into the question of art as suffering. Writing, or any art form need not be an...

Writers Are Courageous Dreamers

May 30, 2023 | Craft

In The Art of Fiction, John Gardner writes (p. 36): “[…] the organized and intelligent fictional dream that will eventually fill the reader’s mind begins as a largely mysterious dream in the writer’s mind.” Writers are courageous dreamers. It takes courage...

Creating Authenticity on the Page

May 24, 2023 | Craft

We live in a culture that teaches us we are not enough (ever) and that instructs us to be inauthentic—to create a fictional character of ourselves. Just take a look at your social media feeds. Dr. Brené Brown (social researcher and author of POWER OF VULNERBILTY) says...

Chatting with Maria Semple & Abbi Waxman

May 15, 2023 | Craft

I had the pleasure to interview and chat with two favorite comedic authors, Abbi Waxman & Maria Semple. I reached out to ask them about their writing process and more specifically about how they approach narration and POV challenges. Their answers are now...

Why Do We Write?

May 13, 2023 | Craft

When we begin writing a story, things are often foggy and unclear. We know that we don’t know something but are not sure what that is—what we do or don’t understand about our story. So, we write to discover something, and that something has to be meaningful. Meaning...