In 18th-century Venice, female babies of prostitutes are commonly drowned in the canals, but a lucky few are placed through a box in the wall of the Ospedale della Pietà. Inside, the girls are given music lessons from a young age, and those who excel can escape the fate of being married off to anyone who will have them.…
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.…
A Work in Progress: If You’re Not in a Writing Group, Find or Start One Today
In an earlier A Work in Progress I wrote about what I most missed after completing coursework for my MA in writing. To fill that gap, I started a writing group. It’s meant so much to me and been so helpful to me that I started a second group.…
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.…
An Attitude on Platitudes
Recently, my father, reading a piece of my short fiction, questioned my proclivity for unresolved, unsettling, and often sad endings. He requested that I tie things up with a nice bow and let someone in my next story live happily ever after.…
Author Interview: Sofía Segovia
Sofía Segovia, the international best selling author of The Murmor of Bees and Tears of Amber, visits Story Street to chat with our own Elisa Maiz about her writing journey, finding success in translation, and giving ourselves permission in our creative work.
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find:” How Symbolism Makes Flannery O’Connor’s Classic 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.…
Surviving Feedback
I started my career as a journalist when I was 20 years old, working as a reporter for the social magazine Sierra Madre in Periódico El Norte, the biggest newspaper in my hometown of Monterrey, Mexico. I was finishing my major in Spanish Literature, and journalism was the closest I could find to a writing job.…
Writing Tools not Rules: Story Structures = Symmetry
All rules are really just tools. Story structure is mostly about symmetry and balance.