Tag Archives: fiction

The short and long of things….

I just received an e-mail telling me one of my short stories made the shortlist for finalists in the short-story category of the Faulkner Wisdom Competition (run by Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society down in New Orleans).  Then, immediately after that, I received another e-mail that I made the semi-finals for the novella category of theContinue reading “The short and long of things….”

A Writer’s Notebook: Word association

This exercise requires a quick explanation up front, but I’ll explain where it comes from and what I’m doing with it below. The prompt itself is this: Brainstorm or free write around one or all of the following words: glass, willow, tile, edge, ring. Few of the houses have glass, because the scale is smallContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Word association”

A Writer’s Notebook: Found dialogue

The following conversation is not one I invented. I made up the characters and the situation, but the dialogue already existed. But I’ll explain below. Jacob smiled and leaned across the table. “It’s terribly funny,” he said. He winked. Sebastian shook his head. “You are pulling my leg.” Jacob only grinned. “You exaggerate!” Sebastian said. “SurelyContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Found dialogue”

A Writer’s Notebook: Descriptive outlines

Recently, I had the idea to write a new short story in a particular style, a genre I have practiced before but a long time ago. I’m out of practice. So I dug up some old examples and some new ones, and I started analyzing them for clues as to how to proceed. And thenContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Descriptive outlines”

How to know when the writing is done

I started writing about good writing yesterday simply because it was on my mind — I’m neck-deep in three different stories right now, with two more on the sidelines, as I try to finish a story collection. But as soon as I posted it, I started thinking of a related discussion: How to know whenContinue reading “How to know when the writing is done”

How to know when the writing is good (or good enough)

When I was in grad school working on my doctorate, I took a class on the form and theory of poetry, with poet Bruce Bond. It was a fascinating course that taught me a lot, not only about poetry but also about my own approach to fiction. Bond has a way of asking provocative questionsContinue reading “How to know when the writing is good (or good enough)”

A Writer’s Notebook: Music and flash fiction

In the wake of last week’s Writer’s Notebook, my friend Ryan Werner sent me an e-mail with a challenge: Do it again. And this time, make it complete — in other words, write a piece of flash fiction. The actual exercise was more complicated than that (as usual, I’ll explain it below), but it wasContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Music and flash fiction”

A Writer’s Notebook: Music and freewriting

I’ll explain the exercise more fully below, but, as I did with the “1,000 words” exercise, I need to mention this up front:  I’m writing while listening to Edvard Grieg’s “Peer Gynt, Suite No. 1, Op. 46: Aase’s Death.”  I can’t upload an audio clip of the piece without violating copyright, but you can hearContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Music and freewriting”

[Music] is the liquid that we’re all dissolved in*

Some writers cannot write except in silence. Some, actually, need specific kinds of silence: crickets, white noise, one of those nature-sound machines, wind in the trees. But silence all the same. I am not one of those writers. Sure, if I fall into a story and lose all track of my physical surroundings, I canContinue reading “[Music] is the liquid that we’re all dissolved in*”