Writing
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Today’s Comment of the Week: About Those Vampires…
Yesterday I posted about the Magic of Storytelling. Yes, I got a full head of steam going on that one (it happens!), and we definitely achieved liftoff. Fortunately, Wonderful Reader Rain, Rain was there to keep the post anchored in the comments. To make one of my points, I asked readers to fill in the blanks… Continue reading
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Writers Laughing: Carson McCullers
Not all cafes are sad, apparently! Continue reading
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Today’s Comment of the Week
From Wonderful Reader nilochahtims, commenting on A History of Jacke in 100 Objects #3 – The Blood Cake: I started reading, and I could not stop. I had my daughter read the first two sentences, and she could not stop. Same with my wife. My favorite was the ear: icing on the cake. An ID-photo… Continue reading
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A History of Jacke in 100 Objects #7 – The Keyboard
Every kid in school was afraid of the music teacher. The grownups didn’t understand this. Miss Steiner had been teaching forever – she had taught the grandparents of some of my classmates – and when she had been young she had apparently been kind and patient and not yet disillusioned. To us, though, she was impossibly old. And worse than… Continue reading
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What They Knew #30
“High and fine literature is wine, and mine is only water…” – Mark Twain “…but everybody likes water.” – Mark Twain Continue reading
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Don’t Be Discouraged: You Are New!
Editor’s Note: In honor of springtime, I thought I’d rerun this post from last year, which remains one of the most popular posts we’ve had. Hope wins! In an interview with Tinhouse’s J.C. Hallman, Walter Kirn refers to a common anxiety among writers: J.C. Hallman: Do creative writers have an obligation to act as critics, to offer… Continue reading
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Killer Stories
Yesterday we talked about George Carlin and training your brain to be your creative partner. Which got me to thinking about the new novella I’m working on, which starts out bleak and just gets darker and darker. It felt good to write it – not unlike the purgation of negativity I recently attempted on this… Continue reading
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The Writer’s Mind: Sharing the Creative Experience
I’ve been following the many discussions recently of why we like long novels. And while those are interesting and fun, I think they’ve missed something important about the length of the creative work and its impact on the reader. My moment of truth was handed to me by that fabulous liar, Edgar Allan Poe. I’ll… Continue reading
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Fighting Discouragement: You Are New!
In an interview with Tinhouse’s J.C. Hallman, Walter Kirn refers to a common anxiety among writers: J.C. Hallman: Do creative writers have an obligation to act as critics, to offer up alternatives to traditional critical methodologies and assumptions? Walter Kirn: Creative writers have no obligation do anything, including their own creative work. That’s what makes… Continue reading
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Advice from Saint Stephen: Don’t Punch Down
Longtime readers will recall my struggles with tone. I honestly am trying to keep this blog positive, forward-looking, and helpful. A beacon of fairness and integrity. And yet… one of my most popular posts refers to a famous novelist as a Horse’s Ass. And then there’s the series of posts referring to a prominent reviewer… Continue reading
Jacke Wilson 