An old master gives us an exemplary what-not-to-do list in her new book Alice Munro spins tales that show us, again and again, and with wondrous grace, how much can be done in a simple short story. Yet the 74-year-old Canadian does it by breaking every rule ever taught in a writing seminar, setting up [...]
In her deceptively straightforward fictions, Margot Livesey absorbingly explores the layers of the human heart MARGOT LIVESEY HAS become known for writing the “literary page-turner.” In her novels, character becomes the action that drives a story forward. And the unpredictability of character leads to the twists and turns that keep readers intrigued. But Livesey isn’t [...]
How to write a first chapter that will keep editors and agents reading WHEN YOUR NOVEL manuscript is complete, you’ll send query letters and a synopsis to literary agents and publishing houses. Agents and editors often want up to three chapters. You’ll review and polish those pages before sending them. But actually your work in [...]
You don’t have to play golf to write for a golf magazine, but you do need to know its readers’ interests I WRITE STORIES FOR a golf magazine, though I don’t play golf. I write stories for the magazine of the Daughters of the American Revolution, though I’m not a DAR member. I write stories [...]
When writing dramas for children’s theater, you have to create material that’s just right for the age group TO THE UNINITIATED, it’s easy to dismiss the notion that tangible benefits of playwriting for young people go well beyond the printed page or the school auditorium. Not only does this mediumr performers with self-confidence and teamwork [...]
WAITING before you revise improves your chances of writing a more polished story ABOVE FRANZ KAFKA’S desk was a sign that said, “Wait.” It was his way of telling himself not to be too hasty in finishing a story. Lately I’ve discovered that Kafka was really right, and that we writers should all put a [...]
Practical solutions for writing problems Novelist focuses on artfully presenting an ‘alien environment’ to her audience Once i heard an author speak about the challenges of translating a foreign novel into English. In a story set in Korea, a teenager about to graduate from high school got a haircut. This mundane act carried more significance [...]
One of the strengths of creative nonfiction is its person-to-person feeling, as if writer and reader were friends. It happens when the writer sounds genuine and trustworthy, thanks to a mix of words, rhythms and attitude called “voice.” Voice conveys personality–someone to believe in, or not; someone who mysteriously charms, or not. When the voice [...]
It was the winter of 1991 when I heard a harrowing report over the radio as I drove the long, snowy stretch of 1-81 to my first teaching job at Cortland College in upstate New York. A father had accidentally shot and killed his son on the first day of buck season. When he saw [...]
MOMS AND DADS who write might have a practical edge with editors of regional parenting publications, but you don’t have to be a parent to write for one. These magazines need well-written, family-focused stories on Iraq and computers as well as potty training and pacifiers. If you can provide information that readers need, you can [...]