tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10670254632237424262024-03-12T21:08:04.726-07:00Contemplations of a WriterThoughts and musings of Catherine AlexanderAuthorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-72424168458425628032020-12-08T13:04:00.000-08:002020-12-08T13:04:21.000-08:00Progress On My Second Novel<p>The main problem in my second novel is drawing out the female protagonist. She is 21, admitted to a psych ward of a hospital after a suicide attempt. She's resistant to the stringent rules in the unit like wearing scrubs, attending group sessions, and signing a document where she promises not to hurt herself while she's a patient.</p><p>She refuses to share with the staff, the psychiatrist, and during group sessions. All she will admit is that she's had a lousy life. Her mother never wanted her, her kid brother died from a heroin overdose, and she has no reason to go on living.</p><p>Her physical description has me baffled. All I see in my mind is blonde hair with dark roots. Can't picture her face, her body type, or what she wears when not in scrubs. She has a cashier job at a small local market where she is fairly satisfied. But she is one angry girl in a psych unit she calls a prison.</p><p>Stay tuned for progress on fleshing out Lindsay.</p>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-9597599609554974272020-09-28T20:06:00.000-07:002020-09-28T20:06:13.226-07:00From Short Stories to Novels<p>Although I still publish short stories, I have completed a novel and begun another. The first one, Dogs Don't Cook, takes place along Seattle streets in 1995. Hatch, a fifty-year-old Marine vet, claws his way to sobriety for life as a painter, one brushstroke at a time, while his invisible dog, Bud, trots behind. Presently, I am searching for representation for this novel.</p><p>The second book is in the early stages and untitled. In the psych ward of a hospital, a suicidal girl of 21 meets another patient, an old Army chaplain, who is as broken as she is. The plot develops as their friendship grows. </p><p>I hesitated to write a novel, having grown comfortable with the short story. The exciting part of novel writing is watching the plot develop as the characters decide what they're going to do, independent of the narrator. I sit back and let them run the show. I'm not sure what's happening next, and that motivates me to continue.</p><p>In short stories, I have a basic idea of what's ahead. Novels are a very different experience for me. My patience is strained, I' have my share of meltdowns, but haven't ever thrown in the towel. Curiosity keeps my interest and withstands my frustration when things are not going well.</p><p>On this blog, I want to keep a record of how this second novel is proceeding, so stay tuned as I endure the process. </p><p>Thanks --</p><p>Catherine</p>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-60712020548650489172019-08-20T19:10:00.001-07:002019-08-20T19:10:54.213-07:00Best Submission Rejection Ever"Catherine, at this time, we don't handle projects with swearing in them."Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-57339800387220851482018-11-28T21:17:00.000-08:002018-11-29T09:25:06.095-08:00Differences Between a Short Story and a Novel #4<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Difference #4: Subplots<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 57.3pt 80.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 57.3pt 80.6pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 57.3pt 80.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Usually the short story can’t support a subplot. If
there is too much going on, the reader will find it hard going. The piece
generally concerns one basic storyline, one or two themes at the most and no more
than two or three characters.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 57.3pt 80.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In a novel, subplots give the story a new dimension. They
provide layers, texture, complications, back story and crank up the tension. But
at the same time they need to run parallel and drive the main conflict.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 57.3pt 80.6pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Introducing new characters deepens the story and keeps the reader interested. Also, they show hidden impulses behind actions of the major
characters. But they must happen for a reason and move the story forward. Also
be sure to connect and relate them to your main plot. Eventually they have to be
resolved by the end of the story. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-69477748879353409792018-11-24T16:48:00.000-08:002018-11-29T09:25:41.583-08:00Differences Between A Short Story and a Novel #3<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><b>Difference
#3: Plot</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Short
stories can get away with a slice of life that resolves quickly. They usually
focus on one aspect of a character’s life.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">In a
novel, the difference lies in the size of the problem and, usually, in the number
of characters. The issues are generally deeper and can expand in more than one
direction.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Novel readers
get hooked on a plot that keeps them awake until the small hours. It’s a good
idea to introduce the story early on with a sense of plot that grows organically
out of character. It’s a kind of blueprint for constructing a gripping sequence
of events. Think of it as the glue that holds the story together. It should be
flexible enough not to constrain and structured enough to make it a page-turning
tale. A character wants something (even if he/she won’t admit it), followed by a
series of linked events that get in the way. Event A must cause Event B and so
on all the way to Event Z at the end. There should be rising action as the
stakes get higher. However, the line doesn’t have to be straight. It can grow
in zig-zag fashion. After a particular intense action, you could have a quieter
event.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">All plots should
have a beginning and an ending. In the beginning your character has a goal. In
the middle, the character tries to reach that goal. In the end, there must be a
sense of resolution, of life changing or returning to some sort of normality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">I’ll cover
sub-plots later.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Remember: Create a
drama, not a melodrama!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-59541543697008162762018-11-04T11:12:00.000-08:002018-11-24T16:43:19.816-08:00Differences Between a Short Story and a Novel # 2<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Difference # 2: Pacing</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></b>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Pacing controls the speed and rhythm in your narrative. It's a literary technique that determines the story's appeal. In a novel, you're going to have to convince your reader to keep going for longer. Pacing is affected by the number of plot events in your story (quickening the pace), as well as the level of detail (slowing the pace). Variation and balance is the key</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">How well you handle the pacing is determined by the complexity and sustainability of your main idea. You can c<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">ontrol the pace through mix up, which means using short sentences and active verbs in intense action scenes, and details for slower-paced scenes. Writers use pace </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">by choosing the exact words. In short, pacing is moving a story forward with a certain speed.</span></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #333333;"><br /></span></span>
</span></b><br />
<h2 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Elements of Pacing</span></h2>
<div style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Let us see a few important pacing elements:</span></span></div>
<ul style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word;">
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Action</span> – An action scene dramatizes the significant events of the story and shows what happens in a story.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: inherit;"><b>Cliffhanger </b>– When the end of a chapter or scene is left hanging, naturally the pace picks up, because readers would turn the pages to see what happens next.</span></span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Dialogue </b>– A rapid fire dialogue with less information is captivating, swift and invigorates scenes.</span></li>
<li style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; overflow-wrap: break-word;">Word Choice</span> – The language itself is a means of pacing, like using concrete words, active voice and sensory information.</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you're a short story writer, pace is important but easier to regulate. Lucky you!</span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-9942163048438262642018-10-31T11:31:00.000-07:002018-10-31T11:31:07.755-07:00 Differences Between a Short Story and a Novel #1My first in a series of differences between a short story and a novel.<br />
<br />
A teacher once told her class that a novel is just a short story, only longer. <b>Length is true, but there is so much more.</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
I found this out the hard way. I began a short story 24 years ago and gradually developed it into a novel by sheer perseverance. Here's what I discovered:<br />
<br />
Overall difference:<br />
<ul>
<li>A novel is a journey, not only for the characters, but for the writer and the reader.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>A short story is an intense experience--something to linger over and savor.</li>
</ul>
<b>Difference One: Length</b><br />
<br />
A novel is a larger scale project that takes a lot more stamina than a short story. I takes so long to write that you must have a complex and sustainable idea. You have to be ready for the long haul and to commit yourself to a large amount of writing time.<br />
<br />
It's easy to lose track of your writing, I am not an outline keeper. For me, it would kill the muse. I discovered the story by writing it. At least I had completed the short story. Novel development is complicated. Some novelists keep chapter summaries in a spreadsheet or use software to organize chapters and scenes. I plodded forward by the seat of my pants. Wrote chapters out of sequence and fitted them in as I went along. Difficult to manage, perhaps, but my right brain insists on chaos. I envy writers who can outline, develop a synopsis, create characters and scenes before even beginning the novel. Would I write another novel in the same fashion? Absolutely!<br />
<br />
There are as many different novel methods as there are writers. I had only a vague idea of what would happen in the story until I finished it. But I had a Marine with PTSD, his dog, and the dialogue between them. The plot developed from there.<br />
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-82718629520738613322017-08-13T13:27:00.004-07:002017-08-13T13:27:44.318-07:00Best of the NetMy story, "Ronald's Sister," has been nominated for Best of the Net by <i>Cold Creek Review</i>.Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-68856156749996929462017-04-19T18:23:00.001-07:002017-04-20T09:16:45.841-07:00New fiction in the 4-10-17 issue of The New Yorker by Emma ClineEmma Cline (author of <i>The Girls</i>, The New York Times Best Seller and named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post) has written a fine short story, "Northeast Regional," appearing in the April 10, 2017 edition of The New Yorker.<br />
<br />
The piece grips the reader with the clipped first sentence, "Close to five hours on the train."<br />
<br />
A remote father is called to his son's college where there is reported ''trouble." All moves along seamlessly, with tension, until the explosive dialogue near the end. I did not see it coming. Super!<br />
<br />
The writing rolls along at a smooth pace, not a word out of order. The kid's bad doings are left off stage, we are sparred the torrid details.<br />
<br />
The insolent kid is contrasted by his fragile, sniveling girl friend, bullied by the boy's father. A non-participating father for the most part, who is both weak and critical. Not to mention a pill-popper.<br />
<br />
There is a one-paragraph sex scene that works.<br />
<br />
No one in this piece is likable, yet sympathetic.<br />
<br />
I don't want to spoil the plot, so I am intentionally leaving you wanting to read "Northeast Regional."Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-43161426360297691332017-04-06T18:02:00.003-07:002017-04-06T18:02:55.566-07:00My Latest Published StoryCold Creek Review has published my story, "Ronald's Sister, in its first issue. You can read it here:<br />
<br />
http://www.coldcreekreview.amberdtran.com/fiction/Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-73437728691022011422017-03-27T18:48:00.000-07:002017-03-27T18:48:08.254-07:004321 by Paul AusterHas anyone read Paul Auster's <i>4321</i>? I am struggling through it.<br />
<br />
I'm a big fan of Auster's works, having read <i>New York Trilogy, Hand to Mouth, Sunset Park, Oracle Night, The Book of Illusions, and Invisible. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
In <i>4321, </i>(866 pages) there are four Archie Fergusons, all sharing the same paternal grandfather. Each Archie has his own story. Yet, they are the same boy in separate circumstances and plots.<br />
<br />
The novel is heavy on the inner world of Archie, written in narrative, short on dialogue. Manhattan and New Jersey provide backgrounds. Themes of identity, fate and ambition play throughout, along with gender, race, and class.<br />
<br />
I found myself forgetting which Archie I was following. They are alike but in different, complicated and detailed circumstances. And that's what I found frustrating at times, trying to keep each Archie separate. But it kept me thinking, way into the night. And I'm still reading on.<br />
<br />
Thoughts?<br />
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-79944556506693271522017-02-15T12:10:00.000-08:002017-02-16T11:00:42.554-08:00Literary Fiction Book ClubHello!<br />
<br />
I'm back to my blogger page after a hiatus of almost two years. This time I'd like to concentrate on literary fiction, which I mentioned briefly in my previous post dated November 24, 2013. In fact, I'd like to turn my blog into <b>a literary fiction book club.</b><br />
<br />
When I think of literary fiction, I envision language that does not rely on convention, but on the process of discovery. Generally, literary work offers the reader a deeper look into the human experience through elements such as style, character development, metaphors, phrasing, and the use of sensory detail. In its broadest sense, literary fiction attempts to communicate concepts or feelings that transcend the basic structural elements of story. A primary difference between mainstream and literary fiction is that mainstream tends to have a stronger emphasis on plot rather than on character. That doesn't mean literary fiction lacks plot or narrative movement. Beautiful writing needs glue to hold it together.<br />
<br />
Take <i>Moby Dick</i>, for example. More than an entertaining story about ships at sea, it explores layers upon layers of symbolic, psychological and metaphysical themes. Virginia Woolf's <i>Mrs. Dalloway</i> and her other works run deep into the theater-of-the-mind. Often there is a moral dilemma played out through all the senses.<br />
<br />
A literary story can be quite simple, but it will impact the reader with a feeling, maybe joy, maybe surprise, maybe anguish or loss. Still, something has to happen plot-wise to make these feelings palpable.<br />
<br />
Hardly predictable, literary stories unfold the human drama in a probing, authentic voice. The focus is in the characters' psychology, and revelations on the human experience.<br />
<br />
Besides the hundred stories listed on my new, updated website, it might be fun to discuss <i><b>All the Light We Cannot See </b></i>by Anthony Doerr and discuss whether we consider this literary fiction, mainstream or a combination of both. I have just started it.<br />
<br />
Talk later!<br />
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-43804822906418187262015-04-22T10:16:00.000-07:002017-02-09T15:34:02.276-08:00Point of View - Illusion<span style="font-size: large;">Toni Morrison is so much in the news these days, especially with her new book coming out. Here's a quote of hers that's worth noting:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;">There should be the illusion that it's the character's point of view, when in fact it isn't; it's really the narrator who is there but who doesn't make herself known in that role. What I really want is the intimacy in which the reader is under the impression that he isn't reading this; that he is participating as he goes along.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<br />Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-62647219641140683922015-02-08T15:27:00.002-08:002015-02-08T15:27:59.462-08:00 Fun and Productive Writing Workshop on February 21, 2015<span style="font-size: large;">You are invited to come and join my workshop at Edmonds Community College on Saturday, February 21, 2015:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Teasing the Muse</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">ArtsNow</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Edmonds Community College</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Saturday, February 21, 2015</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;">10:00 am - 5:00 pm</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Can't get started writing your fiction or non-fiction? Are you stuck on a page? Sign up for this workshop to incite your muse and end writers' block. Interactive exercises will put you at ease and let the words flow. Simply put, this class works. Bring a brown bag lunch.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">For more information: www.edcc.edu/ulearn</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Phone: 425-640-1243</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">Email: ulearn.artsnow@edcc.edu or catalexander@yahoo.com</span></div>
Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-68386076571913858362015-01-02T10:47:00.000-08:002015-01-02T10:47:16.582-08:00Happy New Year: Read and Write!<span style="font-size: large;">Happy New Writing and Reading Year!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I had little trouble spending a gift card yesterday. Nothing like finding writers I have never read. Here are my purchases:</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Suspended Sentences</i> (Three novellas), Patrick Modiano, 2014 Nobel Prize winner </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Honeymoon</i>, Patrick Modiano</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Hopscotch, Blow-up and Other Stories, We Love Glenda So Much and Other Tales</i>, Julio Cortazar</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Vanessa and her Sister,</i> Priya Parmar</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>How to Be a Victorian</i>, Ruth Goodman</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What an eclectic selection, not related in any way that I know so far, except perhaps that <i>Vanessa and her Sister</i> is about the Bloomsbury group, rebels of the Victorian era.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Reading and writing are so intertwined. When I'm reading, I'm thinking about writing and the reverse holds true as well.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Hopefully, I'll finish the first draft of my novel in 2015. Then put it aside for a while and concentrate on short stories I might include in a new collection.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My new short story class at Edmonds Community College is scheduled to start Tuesday night, Jan. 6. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Starting a busy literary New Year! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I hope the same for all my fellow writers.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-88223488486852217942014-11-28T18:45:00.000-08:002014-11-28T18:48:44.576-08:00Post Thanksgiving Thoughts<span style="font-size: large;">Day after Thanksgiving and I'm finally into gratitude. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Grateful for the satisfaction of wrestling a paragraph onto the page, never mind the two hours I struggled to get it right.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Grateful for rendering a character's emotion believable and honest. Capturing just the right moment to get him on stage, raw and vulnerable. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Grateful for the joy of having written. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes it feels like a great effort just to sit down and turn on the computer. I look at all the piles on my desk and give myself permission to ignore them. Just get to the novel. Mornings work for me. Face the page, reach into the center of myself and don't look back.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Ignore email, Facebook, Twitter and all the rest. Ignore the cat and the two dogs who have already been fed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And today I surprise myself. A breakthrough. What I believe is the crux of the novel, the emotional truth, the hard story, turns comic at the scene's end. Not trivial, but funny.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So thankful for not taking myself too seriously. </span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-8039146353115426322014-11-09T11:56:00.000-08:002014-11-09T11:56:14.645-08:00Post Election Pessimism<span style="font-size: large;">Taking a break from writing to wallow in my role as a curmudgeon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> --H.L. Mencken</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">A pessimist is person who has to listen to too many optimists. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Don Marquis</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Jean Rostand</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Democracy: The worship of jackals by jackasses.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--H.L. Mencken</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If you can't say anything good about someone, sit right here by me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Alice Roosevelt Longworth</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Early to rise and early to bed</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Makes a male healthy, wealthy and dead.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--James Thurber</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Moderation is a fatal thing. Nothing succeeds like excess.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Oscar Wilde</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Oscar Wilde</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Woody Allen</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">My heart is pure as the driven slush.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">--Tallulah Bankhead</span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-29506703036066678342014-10-11T10:58:00.002-07:002014-10-11T10:58:31.462-07:00Chaos Into Art - The Writer's Responsibility<span style="font-size: large;">These two writers (who couldn't be more different) say the same thing:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Human life itself may be almost pure chaos, but the work of the artist is to take these handfuls of confusion and disparate things, things that seem to be irreconcilable, and put them together in a frame to give them some kind of shape and meaning.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> -- Katherine Anne Porter</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">One writes out of one thing only--one's own experience. Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give. This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art. </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">-- James Baldwin, Autobiographical Notes</span></blockquote>
Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-70498621116159602492014-09-30T17:55:00.000-07:002014-09-30T17:57:33.278-07:00Details, Details Details<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;"> . . . Noticing the details takes conscious effort. We see only abbreviations of life because it takes times and effort to shed the blinders that prevent us from seeing it full blown. We see people as blond, brunette, tall, short, thin, fat. We don't see how they fit in their clothes, the peculiarities of their movements, the expressions or lack of expressions on their faces, the way a hand gestures, the way an eye moves in its socket, how hair is made to obey or how it is a condition of constant rebellion. We don't see the touch of grime on a coat sleeve, the long scratch on the back of a hand, the worn heel, the empty smile, the combative stiffening of a neck. You need to see your characters with unsparing clarity if you expect your reader to see them at all. -- The Art & Craft of the Short Story by Rick Demarinis, p. 79.</span></blockquote>
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Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-27715576733677231892014-09-25T09:28:00.000-07:002014-09-25T09:28:19.531-07:00Who are you?<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: large;">People said: "Oh, be yourself at all costs." But I found that it was not so easy to know just what one's self was. It was far easier to want what other people seemed to want and then imagine that the choice was one's own. -- Joanna Field</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you were a member of Jesse James' band and people asked you what you were, you wouldn't say, "Well, I'm a desperado." You'd say something like "I work in banks" or "I've done some railroad work." It took me a long time just to say, "I'm a writer."</span> <span style="font-size: large;">-- Ray Blount, Jr.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">To theorize about how I became a writer, and how writing shapes my life now, requires levels of abstraction and reasoning that are beyond my abilities. But by making brief notes, capturing shards of memory or thought, writing specific scenes, I began to discover what they mean and how they might cohere. -- Floyd Skloot</span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">How we see ourselves is a nebulous thing. Others see us; we do not. Mirrors reveal only our appearance, not who we are. I would guess that most of us feel our identity rather than show it. Who is that person in the mirror? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Writing helps with the process of knowing ourselves. Sometimes we're surprised at the words we put on the page. In the act of creating we discover our power inside. And when that happens, we say, yes, I am a writer. </span><br />
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Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-56445674174097247442014-09-09T17:40:00.002-07:002014-09-09T17:40:41.494-07:00Writers Must Persist in Remembering the Sweet and the Sour<blockquote class="tr_bq">
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Writers remember everything…especially the hurts. Strip a writer to the buff, point to the scars, and he’ll tell you the story of each small one. From the big ones you get novels. A little talent is a nice thing to have if you want to be a writer, but the only real requirement is the ability to remember the story of every scar. Art consists of the persistence of memory.”<br />
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Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-65360034358940076752014-09-05T10:36:00.001-07:002014-09-05T10:36:18.015-07:00Your Past is Never Over<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 19.3199996948242px;">"I don’t believe in 'laying to rest' the past. There are wounds we won’t get over. There are things that happen to us that, no matter how hard we try to forget, no matter with what fortitude we face them, what mix of religion and therapy we swallow, what finished and durable forms of art we turn them into, are going to go on happening inside of us for as long as our brains are alive." --Christian Wiman, "The Limit"</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Yes! In fact I mine my past and go where it hurts. That's where the good stuff is; where I can go deep, where I feel it all the way down in my belly. Then I know I'm writing. I've got something worth messing with, putting the real words on paper. -- Catherine</span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-83668353648776750892014-08-31T08:00:00.000-07:002014-08-31T08:00:33.219-07:00Setting, Landscape and Atmosphere<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Setting</b> - where the story takes place, how characters respond to their surroundings, the sights, sounds and smells that connect the reader to the written word. This is the building site of the writer's craft.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Setting adds color to the story, affects characters, adds authenticity to the narrative and paints pictures in the imagination of readers.--Nancy Lamb, <i>The Art and Craft of Story Telling</i>.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Settings aren't just backdrops. Just by where you have the action happening will tell a lot about the action itself and the people involved.--Ansen Dibell, <i>Plot</i>.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Setting grounds your writing in the reality of place and depicts the theme of your story through powerful metaphor. Without setting, characters are simply there, in a vacuum, with no reason to act and most importantly, no reason to care. Without a place there is no story.--Nina Munteanu, <i>scribophile.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Landscape - </b>the broad vista.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the surface, it would appear that landscape and setting are the same creatures, identical twins given different names just to confuse the beginning writer. This, however, would not be the truth since setting is where a story takes place--including where each scene takes place--while landscape is much broader than that . . . Landscape in writing implies much the same as that which is implied by the word when it's used to refer to a location in a country: It is the broad vista into which the writer actually places the individual settings of the novel, sort of like the canvas or other medium onto which a painter has decided to daub color.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: large;">You need to think about the landscape of your book because if you're able to make the landscape of place real, you can make the land itself real, which gives you a leg up on making the entire novel real for the reader.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Atmosphere</b> - tone and attitude.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Sometimes referring to subject matter, sometimes to technique. Part of the atmosphere of a scene or story is its setting, which includes the locale, period, weather, and time of day. Part of the atmosphere is its 'tone,' and attitude taken by the narrative voice that can be described, not in terms of time and place, but as a quality--sinister, facetious, formal, solemn, wry, and so on . . . As we need to know a character's gender, race, and age, we need to know in what atmosphere she or he operates to understand the significance of the action.--Janet Burroway, <i>Writing Fiction, a Guide to Narrative Craft.</i></span></blockquote>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Setting, landscape, atmosphere</b> are separate entities but connected. The first puts you in the action. The second contains the story's broader vista. The third enables the characters to breathe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-37094051359166942282014-08-28T11:53:00.000-07:002014-08-28T12:17:32.585-07:00Great Betrayals<span style="font-size: large;">The following is an excerpt from The <i>New York Times</i>' opinion page dated Sunday, October 6, 2013. I quote from Anna Fels, a psychiatrist and faculty member at Weill Cornell Medical School:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">As a psychiatrist, I can tell you that it's often a painstaking process to reconstruct a coherent personal history piece by piece--one that acknowledges the deception while reaffirming the actual life experience. Yet it's work that needs to be done. Moving forward in life is hard or even, at times, impossible, without owning a narrative of one's past. Isak Dinesen has been quoted as saying "all sorrows can be born if you put them in a story or tell a story about them." Perhaps robbing someone of his or her story is the greatest betrayal of all.</span></blockquote>
Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1067025463223742426.post-11304307831424023392014-08-26T10:01:00.000-07:002014-08-26T10:05:44.314-07:00Linear Vs Spatial Narrative<span style="font-size: large;">Second part of Kim Barnes' handout at the July 2014 Fishtrap writing conference in Oregon:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"There are SO many ways to tell stories, but every story is, in its way, an argument. First, the story must argue for its own validity--its right to exist. That requires recognition on the part of the reader/audience of some melodic engagement--some 'base line' that we recognize as common to our narratival experience. The basic linear narrative is kind of like a number system or syntax or composition: 1-10, subject-verb-object, five-paragraph essay. It's the foundation on which everything is built and/or interpreted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The next argument is that, in the absence of the linear 'melody,' something else (also recognizable and held in common) must come in to take its place. And that's the challenge for the writer/composer/artist/dancer. What is that 'something'? Whatever it is, it must also be observable and have progression, movement, and pattern, with an inherent logic that we can follow, or learn to follow--be taught by the story to follow. If you can define/delineate that OTHER SOMETHING that takes the place of the 'melody' of linear narrative, you'll have an argument for a story that is outside of convention. But, no matter what, I believe it's all either STRUCTURE or ANTI-STRUCTURE that we recognize. Outside/between is chaos without chaos theory (because, of course, chaos as defined by theory is, alas, inherently linear and structured and observed and articulated via a rubric that is absolutely defined).</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Giving yourself over to the simple narrative, the archetypal progression, is a kind of submission to the laws of the universe, in some ways. To EXIST is to abide by linear laws; to LIVE is to exist inside the spatial, and story must bring those two experiences together in a horizontal/vertical way. In my mind, this is the role of all art. But vertical movement expands, interrupts, deepens, slows, adds texture and space to an otherwise linear narrative. It's in the vertical movement that the 'why'--rather than the 'what'--of the story exists."</span>Authorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09933521719201695305noreply@blogger.com0