Category Archives: craft

The Space Between

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Lindsey Crittenden

Last weekend, I went on silent retreat, as I have for the past eight Decembers, at the Bishop’s Ranch in Healdsburg, California. I mark the season of Advent—the four weeks leading up to Christmas—by fleeing shops and noise and email, … Continue reading →

Posted in craft, prayer, spirituality, writing | Tagged Advent, Advent Quiet Days, apophatic prayer, Barbara Brown Taylor, Bishop's Ranch, book design, definitions of divine, definitions of God, language, limitations of language, Lindsey Crittenden, negative space, path of unknowing, silence, silent retreats, via negative, When God Is Silent, Yale Divinity School | Comments Off

Why I Teach

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Lindsey Crittenden

Last Monday, at the second-to-last meeting of my Writing Skills Workshop class at UC Berkeley Extension, one of the students said, “I don’t even want to think about saying good-bye to everyone.” Her large, expressive eyes opened even wider, and … Continue reading →

Posted in community, craft, teaching, writing | Tagged class discussion, feedback, Lindsey Crittenden, students, teaching, UC Berkeley Extension, writing classes, writing practice, Writing Skills Workshop | Comments Off

Read Anything Good Lately?

Posted on December 2, 2011 by Lindsey Crittenden

I own many books. I have piles of magazines going back I don’t want to say how many months. Reading material covers every surface in every room I live in. I belong to the Mechanics’ Institute, whose wonderful library has … Continue reading →

Posted in craft, reading, writing, writing groups | Tagged 20 u nder 40, Alice Munro, Amagansett, backstory, Billy Prior, Caribou Island, character development, David Vann, favorite authors, fiction, Jane Eyre, Jonathan Coe, Lindsey Crittenden, literary analysis, literary fiction, Lloyd Jones, Lonesome Dove, Mary Tyler Moore, Mechanics' Institute, Michiko Kakutani, Mr Pip, narrative structure, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pat Barker, Penn Station, reading fiction, Rebecca, Regeneration trilogy, Seasons in the Sun, The Great Gatsby, The Rain Before It Falls, The Scarlet Letter | 1 Comment

Rising & Falling

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Lindsey Crittenden

I can’t get a certain floor out of my mind. It’s tiled, worn, and – the best part, the part I can’t forget – undulating. I’d attach a picture if I had one, but the entire time I stood on … Continue reading →

Posted in craft, writing | Tagged Alaska, Clark's Point, fishing village, Fourth Crusade, Lindsey Crittenden, Nushagak River, pictures, San Marco Basilica, stories, story ideas, The View from Below, Venice | Comments Off

Try, Try Again

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Lindsey Crittenden

Whatever works for you, I tell my students. There’s no one way to write, no hard-and-fast rule that guarantees success, as much as we want one. And yet, certain koan-like statements have made it onto my bulletin board or refrigerator. … Continue reading →

Posted in craft, teaching, Uncategorized, writing | Tagged Caribou Island, Colum McCann, David Vann, drafts, Fiction Writing Intensive, index cards, Jane Anne Staw, Legend of a Suicide, Lindsey Crittenden, Lydia Davis, Post-its, Proust, Samuel Beckett, Swann's Way, The Millions, UC Berkeley Extension, writers' colony, writing process | Comments Off

Category Archives: craft

The Space Between

Why I Teach

Read Anything Good Lately?

Rising & Falling

Try, Try Again

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