Monthly Archives: January 2009
Captivity narratives
Each bullet point below is a quotation from Vaughan, Alden T. and Edward W. Clark. “Cups of Common Calamity.” Introduction. Puritans Among the Indians. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1981.1-28. The current edition can be found here. Ironically, the earliest New World … Continue reading
Quick starts, structure, and emergency fiction
Here are links to two PDFs. The first seems useful for developing large structures or cores (albeit traditional ones) around which long narratives can be built. The second gives simple, direct steps (scaleable steps, good for scenes or books) for … Continue reading
The oral electric notebook
Many creative writers keep notebooks for recording ideas about future and current projects. I’ve found myself using voice mail in a similar way. When I have an idea at 2:00 a.m., rather than searching for my notebook, I try to … Continue reading
New England Puritan beliefs and their influence
Mortality was a constant part of the Puritan’s lives; they felt death was always very close and this belief affected all the phases of each of their individual lives–not just belief but ideas of family, of career, of the worth … Continue reading
Characterization: showing and setting
Two exercises about characterization from the sixth edition of Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft: Write down three adjectives (beautiful, aggressive, haughty) that describe a character in your story-in-progress. (Be sure the adjectives describe different qualities, not … Continue reading
Writing in the Age of Distraction
I don’t know much about Cory Doctorow, but I like some of the writing advice he gives: Don’t research. Researching isn’t writing and vice-versa. When you come to a factual matter that you could google in a matter of seconds, don’t. Don’t … Continue reading
Battles over John Smith and Jamestown
It’s slightly dated, but this New York Review of Books essay offers brief introductions to several popular books on John Smith and Jamestown. Written by Edmund S. Morgan and Marie Morgan, the title is “Our Shaky Beginnings.” Also interesting is … Continue reading
Counterpoint and Iago
I want to mention two ideas about creative writing from two essays. Both can influence characters and their relationships. The first is “Counterpointed Characterization” an essay by Charles Baxter in his book Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction. … Continue reading
Write or Die
Virginia Woolf said “The creative power which bubbles so pleasantly in the beginning . . . quiets down after a time, and one goes on more steadily. Doubts creep in. Then one becomes resigned. Determination not to give in, and … Continue reading
Cryptonomicom
I’m really enjoying Cryptonomicon by Neil Stephenson. There are endless lessons to learn as a writer from the book. Here are four: Don’t be afraid to expand and explore. Rather than Netherland, which demonstrates the virtues of a tight focus, Cryptonomiconexplores … Continue reading
Metaphor by Metaphor 