I run a weekly private workshop, and when my students say they are “blocked” I know that more than likely they are afraid. They fear that what they are doing is hopeless, that they will never get published, so why bother? Or that the next “place” they have to take the work will be too [...]
Archive for May, 2010
Writing Tip by Leslie Schwartz
Posted in Uncategorized on May 31, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Writing Tip by Felice Picano
Posted in autobiography, creative non fiction, writers, Writing process and tips, Writing Tip on May 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
In the past few years I’ve begun to tune in to the wavelengths of the world — like a radio receiver — and now strangers tell me their lives. I don’t know who they are until I’ve let them use me to narrate. I think it began with my discovery of the unsolved murder in [...]
Writing Prompt by Steven Reigns
Posted in Los Angeles County Artist-in-Residence, Poetry, writers, Writing process and tips, Writing prompts on May 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I love how poetry (and most types of writing) can illuminate actions, items, and feelings that we might not normally explore or question. For the past five years I’ve solely taught autobiographical poetry workshops. The work generated from these workshops is the perfect mixture of poetry, my lifelong love, and my inherent fascination with others. [...]
Writing Tip by Sholeh Wolpe
Posted in Poetry, writers, Writing process and tips, Writing Tip on May 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Five nails to hammer into your writing desk: –A poem is a sauce you simmer and simmer until your reach its potent and aromatic essence. This you do with editing. Learn to edit your work. It’s an art. It’s a skill. –Use metaphors to render the most ordinary into extraordinary. –Jack Gilbert in his poem, [...]
Writing Prompt by Rob Roberge
Posted in Fiction, MFA Faculty, writers, Writing prompts on May 3, 2010 | 3 Comments »
A revision prompt: Go back through any story you’ve done (or essay or whatever) and highlight every simile or metaphor. Usually our first attempts at these are pat—using the borrowed language dead with, as Shklovsky points out (in the great book for writers “Theory of Prose”), the weight of familiarity. Say you’ve written a clunker [...]
