So, as I wrote a while ago, HerInteractive is sponsoring a story contest, and I decided to play along. This isn’t a story I’d submit (for one thing, it isn’t finished; for another, I broke the rules), but here’s what I’ve done so far with the instructions for the contest. Isn’t it marvelous to beContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: HerInteractive story”
Category Archives: writers
A Writer’s Notebook: Found poem (from Nizar Qabbani)
I’m in Dubai this weekend, visiting friends. Yesterday, I spent part of my day on the Dubai campus of Zayed University, where, in a hallway leading to the campus library, I found a row of large, framed prints, each bearing–in Arabic and in English–lines of poetry. The lines all come from existing poetry, but theyContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Found poem (from Nizar Qabbani)”
15 Authors (and then some)
There’s a meme going around Facebook (and probably elsewhere) in which we are invited to name 15 influential authors in 15 minutes. It reads like this: The Rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen authors (poets included) who’ve influenced you and that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen youContinue reading “15 Authors (and then some)”
Vonnegut at the blackboard
I was so glad to see Ampersand Review link to this article in Lapham’s Quarterly: I had to profound good fortune to see Kurt Vonnegut give this same lecture at Trinity University in San Antonio back in, oh, 1995? 1996? I forget the date, but I will never forget this lecture, in which Vonnegut explainsContinue reading “Vonnegut at the blackboard”
A new story
As promised in the last Writer’s Notebook entry, I wrote a story for Ryan Werner’s Our Band Could Be Your Lit blog. I’ve been a fan of this project since before it began, back when it was still an exercise on my blog, but I’m awfully damn impressed with where Ryan is taking it. AndContinue reading “A new story”
A follow-up about Virginia Quarterly
Back in August, I wrote a post about the tragic suicide of Kevin Morrissey; in that post, I commented on one aspect of the narrative unfolding at the time, namely, the dangers of workplace bullying and the need for our vigilance in fighting it. That post has received a lot of traffic since, partly fromContinue reading “A follow-up about Virginia Quarterly”
A Writer’s Notebook: Revision checklist
Today’s exercise is going to be short and relatively uncreative. I’m polishing up a story collection I recently finished, and while most of the stories are published, finished, or well on their way, one is still very much an ugly draft, so I’ve decided to go over that weakest story and do some broad revision.Continue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Revision checklist”
Photo blog 22
Many thanks to my old college friend, Erin Hostetler, who drove me out to Concord in the snow to see Walden, the graves of the Alcotts, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Thoreau, and this, the house in which Hawthorne lived and wrote.
The Creative Process (courtesy of Subnormality)
My friend David Maizenberg sent me this today. I’d point out my favorite bit in this, but, well, you’re looking at it. This is actually a pretty solid illustration of my day today, in fact. Awesome.
A Writer’s Notebook: “Uninvited Guests”
Like my early Writer’s Notebook entry “1,000 words,” this exercise requires I post a picture. This picture, though, comes with a title and a caption, which I’ve included with the pic at the right (for the full citation, see the end of the story). Children’s lit fans might recognize the title of this post and/orContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: “Uninvited Guests””
Samuel Snoek-Brown 