5 Important Craft Books Every Memoir Writer Needs
Whether you’re crafting your first personal essay or wading into the depths of a book-length memoir, here are five books for guidance and inspiration.
3 Steps to Hook the Heart of Your Reader: Advice From Brandon Sanderson
When was the first time a book broke your heart? Is its memory still vivid enough to pinpoint where you were, what time it was, the moment that the crest of emotion forced you to put the book down for several deep breaths? …
“The Song of the Blue Bottle Tree” by India Hayford
Review of Song of the Blue Bottle Tree by India Hayford with a craft analysis of first and last lines
Mind The Gap: How the Uncle Charles Principle and Its Adaptations Can Close the Gap Between Narrator and Reader in Different Narrative Points of View
As writers, we often desire to close the gap between our characters and readers. We want readers to become so engrossed in the characters’ lives that they forget they are reading. This gap between the reader and the text can widen when the author uses an indirect characterization method.…
Let’s Talk About First Lines with Faulkner
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.”…
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.…
“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.…
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?”…