Found this fascinating. Yes, it's from a very American perspective, but the discussion of college and MFA courses depriving a readership of true literature is an interesting one, as is the discussion on European prizes and American readers.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/the-nobel-prize-as-a-snub-of-creative-writing/article21150354/
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
2014 Can. Lit. Nominees
I'm always interested in what books get nominated for our awards, and it does appear that we've hit a sort of Renaissance for Canadian Lit. The titles alone (Oil Man and the Sea, for real!) are awesome.
Governor General: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/10/governor-generals-literary-awards-2014-the-finalists.html
Giller: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/10/scotiabank-giller-prize-2014-the-shortlist.html
Governor General: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/10/governor-generals-literary-awards-2014-the-finalists.html
Giller: http://www.cbc.ca/books/2014/10/scotiabank-giller-prize-2014-the-shortlist.html
Monday, September 1, 2014
Past The Block
I don't believe in Writer's Block per se. Never have. I do understand that there are times we are less inclined to write, sure, and I believe that there are times when the writing is not as good as it could be, should be. But I believe that a writer writes, and even if it's a steaming pile of crap we--figuratively--reach into that steaming pile and retrieve something worthwhile. Even the most unproductive of ventures can produce something as long as you're writing.
I've been having a bugger of a time writing well for the past sixty-two days. I'm a teacher and summer is often my most productive time, and yet this summer was one of the worst for new and good production. I was half way through working on edits to a book I've been done for a months but hasn't clearly come out of the editing stage. It's my finest work so far, with two distinct narrators whose stories meet in the end. I'm very proud of it, and of them. One of them is named David and there's no denying he's a barely-veiled version of myself. David's narration is first person, in fact written in journals while he travels across Europe on a quest to decide whether his life is any longer worth living.
I loved writing David. I loved it because it was so easy. His voice was so similar to my own voice that I really just had to fictionalize events and react to them as I knew I would react to them. He borrowed my voice, or so I thought. In reality he stole it, and I have solved the issue with my blockage.
I'm struggling with this last edit. Life has got in the way, yes. And I find that every time I sit down at my journal to write in my voice, or at my computer, the voice I hear in my head is mine, but the fictional me I have poured into this character. I can't write in my voice because I haven't put David to bed.
As I said, I love that character. If I am able to publish his tale, he and I have a bit of time coming with even greater intimacy than when I was writing him. And, frankly, he and his voice will be attached to me for the rest of my writing career and probably my life, as they appear to be one. I'm fine with that. Now. Once I became fine with that I understood that to take my voice back from David, I needed to finalize his story, to put that book to bed.
It came as a great relief. I mean, the stress of having to finish and hopefully publish that book remains, but now I know what's been in the way. It was a singular experience. I have never heard of any writer who felt they couldn't write because their own creation had robbed them of their voice. But knowing, I know what to do to be past it.
I've been having a bugger of a time writing well for the past sixty-two days. I'm a teacher and summer is often my most productive time, and yet this summer was one of the worst for new and good production. I was half way through working on edits to a book I've been done for a months but hasn't clearly come out of the editing stage. It's my finest work so far, with two distinct narrators whose stories meet in the end. I'm very proud of it, and of them. One of them is named David and there's no denying he's a barely-veiled version of myself. David's narration is first person, in fact written in journals while he travels across Europe on a quest to decide whether his life is any longer worth living.
I loved writing David. I loved it because it was so easy. His voice was so similar to my own voice that I really just had to fictionalize events and react to them as I knew I would react to them. He borrowed my voice, or so I thought. In reality he stole it, and I have solved the issue with my blockage.
I'm struggling with this last edit. Life has got in the way, yes. And I find that every time I sit down at my journal to write in my voice, or at my computer, the voice I hear in my head is mine, but the fictional me I have poured into this character. I can't write in my voice because I haven't put David to bed.
As I said, I love that character. If I am able to publish his tale, he and I have a bit of time coming with even greater intimacy than when I was writing him. And, frankly, he and his voice will be attached to me for the rest of my writing career and probably my life, as they appear to be one. I'm fine with that. Now. Once I became fine with that I understood that to take my voice back from David, I needed to finalize his story, to put that book to bed.
It came as a great relief. I mean, the stress of having to finish and hopefully publish that book remains, but now I know what's been in the way. It was a singular experience. I have never heard of any writer who felt they couldn't write because their own creation had robbed them of their voice. But knowing, I know what to do to be past it.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Of Dragonflies and Community Support
 |
| Audrey Gene busy signing. |
But that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing this because I made a point to sneak out on my kids' play rehearsal to get there, but really, she didn't need my support. There was a line up for the entire two hours I was there, and besides friends and family, I saw two other local authors, our mayor, and folks from the city. This was an event.
It was great to see this overwhelming support for art, for a writer celebrating and unveiling the results of her craft, something she's sweat over for years. It was good to see a little town telling one of its own that she'd done well.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Writing prompts from Donald M. Murray's Write to Learn--Chapter 12
Chapter 12 In the Writer's Workshop
9. Compare and contrast a first draft of a paper you wrote with a final draft. Make a copy of your first draft on your computer or word processor and triple space between lines. In the margins and spaces, note where you made significant changes to the draft as you revised it. Retrace the steps you took to get from the first to the last draft. How and why did you make the changes you did? What effect did those changes have on the final draft? What did you learn about the writing process while revising the original draft?
10. Find an interview with a writer. . . . Write a case study about the writer, focusing on the writer's particular composing process and how he or she goes about revising. Then compare the process with your own.
15. Choose someone you know who absolutely hates to write, and study his or her process of composing a single essay for a class. Ask the writer to describe the difficulties he or she has with writing. What obstacles did the writer encounter? Did he or she overcome them? If so, how? If not, why? Using the writer's drafts and interviews, compose a case history.
16. Choose someone who is in love with writing, and repeat Activity 15. Then write a case history comparing the avid writer with the frustrated writer. See if you can pinpoint specific features of both writers' processes that made writing particular pieces good or bad experiences for them.
Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.
9. Compare and contrast a first draft of a paper you wrote with a final draft. Make a copy of your first draft on your computer or word processor and triple space between lines. In the margins and spaces, note where you made significant changes to the draft as you revised it. Retrace the steps you took to get from the first to the last draft. How and why did you make the changes you did? What effect did those changes have on the final draft? What did you learn about the writing process while revising the original draft?
10. Find an interview with a writer. . . . Write a case study about the writer, focusing on the writer's particular composing process and how he or she goes about revising. Then compare the process with your own.
15. Choose someone you know who absolutely hates to write, and study his or her process of composing a single essay for a class. Ask the writer to describe the difficulties he or she has with writing. What obstacles did the writer encounter? Did he or she overcome them? If so, how? If not, why? Using the writer's drafts and interviews, compose a case history.
16. Choose someone who is in love with writing, and repeat Activity 15. Then write a case history comparing the avid writer with the frustrated writer. See if you can pinpoint specific features of both writers' processes that made writing particular pieces good or bad experiences for them.
Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Writing prompts from Donald M. Murray's Write to Learn--Chapter 11
Chapter 11 Read Writers' Writing
2. Select a short piece of writing (less than two pages) of a published work and read it aloud, making believe you are the author appearing at a reading in a bookstore or library. Tell the readers how you came to write the selection. What problems did you discover in writing it? How did you solve them? What other solutions did you consider? How would you write it differently today? Answer these and other questions about the selection as you believe the writer would answer.
4. [C]hoose three to five books of the same genre. . . . Sit down in a comfortable chair, and compare the opening paragraphs of each book to those of the others. What were the different approaches used by the authors? How different were the voices between the authors? For whom were the authors writing? Are the audiences different? How can you tell? What techniques do the authors use to draw the reader in? Did they succeed? Write your answers in your daybook or reading journal.
15. Preserve a special section in your daybook or reading journal for memorable, provocative, or disturbing passages from your readings. Share with the class, and talk about why you selected them. Did they make you think? Have you had experiences that gave them special meaning? Did you find them beautiful, ugly, upsetting? What struck you as particularly significant about these passages?
Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.
2. Select a short piece of writing (less than two pages) of a published work and read it aloud, making believe you are the author appearing at a reading in a bookstore or library. Tell the readers how you came to write the selection. What problems did you discover in writing it? How did you solve them? What other solutions did you consider? How would you write it differently today? Answer these and other questions about the selection as you believe the writer would answer.
4. [C]hoose three to five books of the same genre. . . . Sit down in a comfortable chair, and compare the opening paragraphs of each book to those of the others. What were the different approaches used by the authors? How different were the voices between the authors? For whom were the authors writing? Are the audiences different? How can you tell? What techniques do the authors use to draw the reader in? Did they succeed? Write your answers in your daybook or reading journal.
15. Preserve a special section in your daybook or reading journal for memorable, provocative, or disturbing passages from your readings. Share with the class, and talk about why you selected them. Did they make you think? Have you had experiences that gave them special meaning? Did you find them beautiful, ugly, upsetting? What struck you as particularly significant about these passages?
Murray, Donald. M. Write to Learn. Orlando: Harcourt Brace College, 1998.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)