Art & Politics & Weight
Yes, it’s important to reflect and comment on and challenge people around reality, but it’s also important to imagine something better.
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Thoughts
Essays and reflections on writing, culture, history, community, and the ideas that stay with us.
The Dreaded Apostrophe: A Quick Cheatsheet
There seem to be errant apostrophes everywhere one goes. Here’s an easy way to keep track of them!
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“Don’t Know Much About History…”
We have to go back to the time we’re researching. Not what later scholars said about it. What the people who lived it said about it.
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A Walden Retreat for Readers
If you’re a reader, then you’re a thoughtful person, and I always try to write about subjects that will help you think.
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Travel the World!
One of the things I’ve always loved about books and reading is how you can explore places you’ll never actually visit; you can travel the world without leaving your favorite chair.
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How Happy I Am to See You, He Burbled
Here’s the thing: “said” can never be overused.
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Lethal Alliances ... Published!
A master of suspense, de Beauvoir is renowned for creating authentic, compelling characters. Her nuanced, knowledgeable, and passionate portrayal of real-life individuals not only brings their stories to life but also reveals the machinations of a troubled time all too reminiscent of our own.
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Opening Your Story
The first rule of opening a story is to start the way you mean to continue. Your first few sentences should capture the voice that you’ll be using to tell the rest of the story. They should also present a point of view, a hint of characterization, and the beginnings of your plot. The opening is what gives the reader direction and momentum.
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The Wait’s Almost over: Introducing Lethal Alliances!
Read about the passions and politics of medieval France in a tale rich with adventure, turmoil, and heartbreak.
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Pre-Thinking Your Short Story
At the end of the day, remember it’s always about the reader.
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Travel Lightly
We know we’re lucky to be here … and you are, too. Let’s act as if we can share these fleeting months of sunshine and beauty.
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Creating Believable Dialogue in Fiction
Just because in real life people must have a conversation with the grocery clerk about the price of melons doesn’t mean that particular interaction has to happen in the story.
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The Nights Will Flame with Fire
Keeping going once the flames are out, whether with writing or with life: that’s the tricky part.
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Talking About the Craft
Sometimes it’s good for a writer to hang out with other writers.
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This Post Has Nothing to Do with Writing
Holy Week had only just begun when the palms of Sunday gave way to the flames of Notre-Dame de Paris on Monday. I was struck in particular by one of the images, which I’ve attached here, of the cathedral’s gargoyles silhouetted against the fire. Gargoyles were meant to be protectors, but on this night they were helpless to protect.
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Living with Empty Spaces
It’s okay. It’s okay to live with empty spaces, whether on walls or in books … or in life. It can be, in fact, the most freeing, exhilarating, and creative thing you can do.
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Someone Has to Pay
I was in full work mode. I’d prepared all the relevant documents. I had the wording down. I’d pored over appropriate websites. It was time to speak with the director of the agency, and in preparation for the interview, I read everything that I could about their work. And that was when the words stopped me.
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The Liminality of Writing
That’s perhaps the real issue with liminal spaces. They’re not safe. Anything can happen there. Demons and angels dance, memories surface, words flow together into a torrent of poetry that one has only to capture to… And there it is again. It can’t be captured. My waking self has nothing in common with my liminal falling-asleep self. One of them may well be a better writer, but the other is a writer who actually gets things written.
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Trapped, Episode 11
“It’s not,” said the voice, “that I was having an affair. I’ve actually never cheated on my wife. That must make me reasonably unique, anyway.” “Marcel,” I said. “Of course, madame, who else?” He moved and the light moved with him. I drew my knees up to my chest and encircled them with my arms. It didn’t make me feel any less vulnerable. “Why?” I asked flatly.
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