Recently, a statement in a BBC article by Hephzibah Anderson about the all-important first line of a novel caught my eye: “We frontload our expectations, insisting that a handful of words must contain the DNA of all that is to come, encapsulating the conflict of a 300-page story.”…
Word Choice: How Karen Russell’s “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves” Can Save Writers from Becoming a “Bunches”
When my son, Nick, was in high school, his English teacher asked the class to write a brief essay about their summer vacations. Reading aloud, one of Nick’s friends ended his paper with, “I had a lot of fun.” His teacher asked the student if he could think of a better word or phrase to express “a lot.”…
Most Books on Writing Suck and Here’s Why
This article was originally going to be a review for a recent craft book I picked up to read that promised to look at writing through a new lens. However, midway through chapter three, I put the book down and didn’t pick it up again.…
Kappa Myths and Manners: Wunderworld Ideas from Ryunosuke Akutagawa
Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s Kappa is a wonderland journey through Kappa Land narrated by Patient No 23, who has found himself in an insane asylum following his adventures. (My copy is translated by Allison Markin Powell & Lisa Hofmann-Kuroda.)
I have wunderworld projects on my mind these days – stories about adventures Elsewhere, in downstairs underworlds peopled by the dead or next-door wonderlands inhabited by curious characters.…
Flannery O’Connor’s Use of Symbolism Makes “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” a Story for the Ages
Let’s See How It Works
As a writer, I’m always keen to dissect a story to see how it works. More than that, I want to pinpoint the difference between a great story and a world-class story, the kind that’s anthologized and taught for generations.…
Writing Tools not Rules: Story Structures = Symmetry
All rules are really just tools. Story structure is mostly about symmetry and balance.
Setting: Take Your Character Reinvention Story Abroad
“La vita e un viaggio. Chi viaggia vive due volte.”
Life is a journey. Those who travel live twice.
Italian proverb
Foreign settings allure and entice. They whisper of things unknown, exotic, and enriching. The Italian saying quoted above proposes a second life for traveling characters.…
Reading to Improve Line-Level Writing
My grandma patiently waited as I swiped through photos on my phone to find a picture of my friend’s new baby. A proud ‘auntie’ in my own right, I was absorbed in the search when my grandma asked, “Why are there so many pictures of words?”…
Wunderworlds: using there-and-back-agains to craft intimacy with our characters
I had the feeling I was in a dream, part nightmare, part comedy…
– Ijon Tichy (Stanisław Lem, Peace on Earth)
Stories are fossils, Stephen King says, pre-existing things authors are granted the right to excavate. (You’ll find this on pg 188 of On Writing.)…
Writing Tools not Rules, or: Why You Don’t Always Have to Save a Damn Cat
Why writing rules are really just tools, and you don't always need to save the cat.