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Says Who?
Going back to the list of novels I’m analyzing (flip back to last week’s blog if you need to see the list), I had a breakthrough idea, or so it is for me. Maybe everyone else in the writing business has known this and hidden it from me. Shh, she has to figure this out…
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The Big What If
Here again are the six novels I’ve been studying in preparation for finishing the first draft of my own work in progress. 1000 White Women: the Journals of May Dodd, by Jim Fergus God Help the Child, by Toni Morrison Neverhome, by Laird Hunt Summer People, by Marge Piercy The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood…
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Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Occasionally, I hear writers say that they don’t read books in their genre for fear that they will be influenced. Horse feathers! Dancers mimic the instructor until they get the moves right. I learned to ride a horse by watching and listening to my trainer. I learned penmanship by copying letters from the model and, believe…
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The Courage of Writers
This week I sat in a local diner with other writers who impressed me by their willingness to approach tough stuff. One had the courage to describe his mother in more or less balanced terms without the sentimentality or vitriol that inherently sneaks into this mother of all topics. Another wrote about her insecurity and…
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7 Degrees of Connection
English novelist E.M. Forster said, “Only, connect.” Writers need other writers, not just their books, essays, and poems, but flesh and blood people. Well, the less blood spilled, the better. So here’s your assignment if you don’t already belong to a vibrant, extensive writing community. Scan bulletin boards at church, a coffee shop, your local community college;…
Karen Douglass, Author 