What could be better than summer camp for writers? While each summer conference varies greatly from the next, they all allow writers a chance to escape from their daily routines, work on their fiction, and be with a community of…
In studying the craft of fiction, story and plot seem like simple enough concepts: story is the chronological sequence of events while plot is those same events, reordered by the author. In an attempt to consider how to construct meaning…
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Eileen Chang, Little Reunions NYRB Classics From Publishers Weekly: “Originally completed in 1976 and appearing in English for the first time, this…
Linked story collections often seem like that halfway point between a collection of unconnected stories and a novel. Done well, a linked collection can add up to something more than its parts, a reading experience that expands beyond the limits…
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Chloe Benjamin, The Immortalists Penguin Random House From Publishers Weekly: “In her second novel, Benjamin (The Anatomy of Dreams) constructs an imaginative…
It’s a new year, and time to refocus on your submission game. The submission process can be daunting. You finally get a story to a place where you think it’s pretty close to being done. But where to send it?…
Here’s a quick look at some of the great books out this week. Happy pub day to all! Maud Casey, The Art of Mystery Graywolf Press From Publishers Weekly: “In the 14th volume of Graywolf’s The Art Of series, novelist…
Naming the World, Bret Anthony Johnston, editor Penguin Random House, 2007 Naming the World is a craft class in a book. Edited by the writer Bret Anthony Johnston, the book is broken into typical craft chapters: Plot and Narration, Dialogue…
I have heard more than one writer say that they have created mixtapes while they were working on a story or novel and listening to that music, and that music alone, while they were writing was hugely helpful. If you’re…
Most of the time, our narrators are speaking directly to our readers. We may not do so as directly as Charlotte Bronte (“Reader, I married him.”) but it is implied, no matter the voice that we’re using. Second person can…
