Author Rebecca T. Dickson stated, “Good writing is detailed.” In one of my creative writing classes, we always took ten minutes at the beginning of the period to close our eyes, sit quietly, and listen, imagining what might be happening and envisioning scenes, incorporating what we were hearing, perhaps even smelling, then putting it on […]
Category Archives: Craft
What has rhythm, dynamics, themes and tonalities and is not a song, jazz instrumental, quartet or other musical piece? Well – it’s writing! And I’m speaking of prose as well as poetry. So if you love to sing, play an instrument, or maybe simply listen to music, be encouraged. You probably could be a writer. […]
Gentle reader, prithee tarry thou a moment in mine company, for by my troth, a tale I would fain unfold for thee. List and learn… And there you have it: gadzookery, the intemperate and/or unskillful use of archaic language. If you’re a reader of historical fiction, you’re no doubt familiar with the phenomenon. And if, […]
Standing on the second floor, looking for the third, I saw the up-escalator wasn’t working. Couldn’t find a clerk, so I headed for the moving stairs that were coming down from third. Why should I ask for directions? The last clerk had been rude and insolent – like it was my fault she hadn’t had […]
“But other people in my family have a whole different memory of what happened. You said ‘tell your truth,’ but how do I know what’s true?” Elbows planted on the table, the young woman leaned into her words while her large eyes sent out beams of light from under the rim of her straw hat. […]
Our newest blogger, Janet Hogan Chapman, debuts today. She was born in Atlanta and has lived in different areas of the city her entire life. She has a variety of life experiences: wife, mother, grandmother, physician’s assistant, caterer, costumed party character, minister, preschool teacher/director, elementary school teacher, university professor, and last but by no means least, […]
We are on our way to the hospital, Ryan’s father says. Listen to me, Son: You are not going to bleed to death. Ryan is still aware enough that his father’s words come through on the edges, like sunlight on the borders of a window shade… On the seat beside him, in between him and […]
Times are strange: our government can spy on us and say it’s for our protection. The folks who hold that abortion is murder also claim the right to carry guns. And a white woman (who claimed that she was black) gets elected local president for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Strange times […]
The first food I remember reading about as a child was Rat’s breakneck inventory of his picnic basket in The Wind in the Willows: coldtonguecoldhamcoldbeefpickledgherkinssaladfrenchrollscresssandwidges pottedmeatgingerbeerlemonadesodawater. That list stuck with me, so much so that when I first encountered ginger beer as an adult I was elated. It was every bit as tasty as I’d […]
Dear Editor, I know I promised to write about how concrete imagery draws a reader into a story, but I’ve had such a week that I just couldn’t. Several months ago we had a huge Red Oak tree cut down after it dropped a large limb onto my neighbor’s driveway. Unfortunately, she was in the […]
Readers Unbound 