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 [...]
Archive for the ‘writers’ Category
Writing Tip by Felice Picano
Posted in autobiography, creative non fiction, writers, Writing process and tips, Writing Tip on May 24, 2010 | 1 Comment »
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 [...]
Writing Prompt by Rob Roberge
Posted in Fiction, MFA Faculty, writers, Writing prompts on April 26, 2010 | 1 Comment »
I’m a great believer in forced limitations—stories/modes of composition that have some pre-enforced limitation that requires us to find creative and unique ways out of a bind (as writing is, among other things, a form of creative problem-solving). Lipograms, formal poetry, all these things tend to spur creativity. So, with that in mind, a writing [...]
Writing tip by Peter Gadol
Posted in MFA Faculty, writers, Writing Tip on April 19, 2010 | 1 Comment »
When I was a senior in high school, I was part of a fortunate group who got to meet with Isaac Bashevis Singer–he would have been about eighty–and he offered this advice (I’m paraphrasing): All of you are what, seventeen, eighteen? And you are being told, Write what you know. Write what you know-but what [...]
Writing Tip by Sarah Maclay
Posted in writers, Writing process and tips, Writing Tip on April 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
That Hemingway Thing “Just write one true thing . . .” I can’t tell you how many times this has gotten me out of a jam. And that’s “true” with a small t. Try a Big T truth and this will have the opposite effect: it’ll shut you down. Plus it will probably be abstract, [...]
Writing Tip by Samantha Dunn Camp
Posted in creative non fiction, memoir, writers, Writing Tip on April 5, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Getting into the nitty-gritty of what makes us tick is not something that comes easily, even for those who are inclined to want to do it. It seems we naturally resist examining why we are the way we are; we want to avoid looking at our contradictions, the places where we don’t make sense. That, [...]
Writing Tip by Janet Sternburg
Posted in creative non fiction, memoir, writers, Writing process and tips, Writing Tip on March 29, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
This is about the old chestnut: “Do you write every day?” And if you answer, “yes,” then chances are you’ll hear another old chestnut: “What discipline you must have!” Nope. It’s not discipline. I always think of discipline as beating yourself on the shoulders with a stick. It’s actually a writer’s “trick.” Let yourself fall [...]
Writing Prompt by Felicia Luna Lemus
Posted in Fiction, writers, Writing prompts on March 22, 2010 | 1 Comment »
Punk Nerd Revolution Writing Prompt Pick a central character you’d like to develop further. What is one thing you know for sure about said character? Revolt! Take the one thing you know for sure about your character’s identity and turn it on its head. For instance, if your character is male, make your character female [...]
