Category: Notebook
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The benefits of a book journal…
First, it was slow food, then slow blogging — now slow reading is the latest watchword. In our fast-paced world, movements designed to get us to slow down and really experience what we are doing always have my support. Here’s a great way to practice slow reading: start a book journal. Whether it’s a notebook…
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Writing advice, distilled…
Every writer must eventually write a book about writing. It’s some sort of unspoken rule. Due to my lifelong interest in the writing process, I’ve read a fair number of these advice manuals. (Two of my favorites are Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel by Jane Smiley and Reading Like a Writer by Francine Prose, because both of these books say…
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Toni Morrison’s vision
This was a beautifully written profile: The Radical Vision of Toni Morrison – NYTimes.com by Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah. Have you read any of Morrison’s books? I am ashamed to say that I have not, but Beloved is sitting on my shelf, waiting for me to give it my full attention.
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Margaret Atwood, Game of Thrones superfan…
Read this and had to share: Margaret Atwood on Game of Thrones: ‘Real people, every murderous one’. Well, if George pops off before the series is done, maybe she can finish it for him. Wouldn’t that be interesting?
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Telling family stories
Raising Teenagers: The Mother of All Problems – NYTimes.com by Rachel Cusk. Ignore the headline–this is an amazing essay about the stories we invent for ourselves and our families. We are all storytellers. Sometimes we forget that our children our storytellers too, and have the right to tell their own stories of their lives, rather than…
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Everything that’s wrong with your screenplay (or novel)…
All The Things That Are Wrong With Your Screenplay In One Handy Infographic | Co.Create | creativity + culture + commerce This is a terrific infographic for any aspiring writer to study. It’s also a great tool for book reviewers and media critics, to help us pinpoint what is going wrong with what we’re reading. I…
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A good resource for writers…
I recommend that all writers, whether you intend to self-publish or publish traditionally, read the excellent and short reviews of self-published books that Jefferson Smith (and occasional guest reviewers) posts at Immerse or Die. Smith maintains that the most important quality of fiction is whether it enables the reader to become immersed in the story, an assertion…
Shannon Turlington 