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Categories
Category Archives: community
Formula One?
Before beginning the post itself, I’m happy to report that my piece on agreeing to disagree on matters of faith is in the July/August issue of Spirituality & Health, hot off the presses! As I write this, the piece isn’t yet online, but I hope it shows up there soon. Otherwise, you can look for it the old-fashioned print way. Here’s the post: Saved cats. Two pillars. Four themes. Three juggling balls. Eight points. A snowflake. No, it’s not a found poem, though it could be. What these six items have in common? They’re all formulas for story structure. I … Continue reading
Posted in community, craft, writing
Tagged 52-Pickup, Blake Snyder, Lindsey Crittenden, novel formula, novel outlines, novel revision, plot formula, plot structure, Plot Whisperer, plotting, Robert McKee, screenwriting, SF Writers' Grotto, Smoke Smoke Fire, story formula, Wallace Stegner
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Caveat Lector
Yesterday the carpet cleaners came. In our household, this means picking up the piles of books, laundry too dirty to put back in the drawer but not dirty enough for the laundry basket, and various not-yet-read magazines in order to clear space from said carpet. In so doing, I faced the fact of all those issues of AWP Writer’s Chronicle and Poets & Writers. I started reading Poets and Writers back in its black-and-white newsprint cover days. When I left New York to start a graduate program in creative writing in the wilderness of California’s Sacramento Valley, my publishing colleagues … Continue reading
Posted in community, reading, teaching, writing
Tagged Alison Presley, Lev Grossman, Samuel Beckett, Writers@Work
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Only Connect
I’m in a scattershot mood this morning, so today’s post will be rather scattershot. First, I’d like to give a shout-out to three colleagues with recently published books: Lana Dalberg, BIRTHING GOD Judith Newton, TASTING HOME Monica Wesolowska, HOLDING SILVAN I’ve mentioned all three on Facebook, and Monica guest-blogged here a few months ago, but I must mention them again here. If I can bring even one new reader to any of these books, which deserve many, I’ll be thrilled. ** About a month ago, my cell phone died. I had an old model, a decidedly-not-smart least-expensive model on the … Continue reading
Posted in community, craft, faith, reading, teaching, writing
Tagged Birthing God, cell phone, cell phones, checking email, depression, email, Holding Silvan, iPhone 4, iPhone 5, Judith Newton, Lana Dalberg, Lindsey Crittenden, Monica Wesolowska, smart phones, Stinson Beach, Tasting Home, teacher/student connection, The Water Will Hold You
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What I Did For Love
A scary number of years ago, I worked on a literary magazine in New York City. Turnstile was a labor of love, a nonprofit corporation with a volunteer staff. Nine of us, seven of whom worked together for the same book publishing company during our weekdays, met on Tuesday evenings and weekends to hammer out the details of editorial vision, selection process, type faces and lamination, 501 (c) 3 status, and who’d take care of bookstore and library sales. We were lucky and idealistic and focused. We put out nine issues in six years, obtained grants, and published work by … Continue reading
Branding
Yesterday over lunch at the Grotto, where I’m subletting office space, another writer (also finishing up her novel) and I got on the topic of branding. You know, the “author brand.” I resisted the first time I heard the phrase, but have come to see its helpfulness. You’ve heard of the elevator speech? The one where you describe your concept or idea in a limited amount of time—from seven seconds to three minutes—to garner interest from that busy person with whom you’re sharing a metaphoric or actual elevator ride. The author brand is part of the elevator speech repertory—those succinct, … Continue reading
