Writing Crime Fiction: Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos

Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly and George Pelecanos swap insights about writing crime fiction.

Guest Blog: Murder Your Darlings (Write for Your Reader)

Murder Your Darlings (Write for Your Reader)
By Rob Parnell

"Murder your darlings" was a phrase coined by F. Scott Fitzgerald. He was referring to what you might call your "best bits." He believed that these are the very "bits" you should always edit out of your work.

As Elmore Leonard once said, "If I come across anything in my work that smacks of ‘good writing,’ I immediately strike it out."

The theory is that writing you’re particularly proud of is probably self-indulgent and will stand out.

You might think this is good. Wrong.

You will most likely break the "fictive dream." (This is the state of consciousness reached by readers who are absorbed by a writer). And breaking your reader out of this fictive dream is a heinous sin!

Editing out "the best bits" is the hardest thing a novice writer has to do – after all, isn’t it counterproductive to write good things down only to cut them out?

Look at it this way…

When you start out, every word you write is precious. The words are torn from you. You wrestle with them, forcing them to express what you’re trying to say.

When you’re done, you may have only a paragraph or a few pages – but to you the writing shines with inner radiance and significance.

That’s why criticism cuts to the core. You can’t stand the idea of changing a single word in case the sense you’re trying to convey gets lost or distorted.

Worse still, you have moments of doubt when you think you’re a bad writer - criticism will do this every time. Sometimes you might go for months, blocked and worrying over your words and your ability.

There is only one cure for this – to write more; to get words out of your head and on to the page. When you do that, you’re ahead, no matter how bad you think you are.

After all, words are just the tools – a collection of words is not the end result, it is only the medium through which you work. In the same way that a builder uses bricks and wood to build a house – the end result is not about the materials, it’s about creating a place to live.

As you progress in your writing career, you become less touchy about your words. You have to. Editors hack them around without mercy. Agents get you to rewrite great swathes of text they don’t like. Publishers cut out whole sections as irrelevant.

All this hurts – a lot.

But after a while, you realize you’re being helped. That it’s not the words that matter so much as what you’re trying to communicate.

Once you accept that none of the words actually matter, and have the courage to "murder your darlings," you have the makings of the correct professional attitude to ensure your writing career.

This is a tough lesson to learn.

But, as always, the trick is…to keep on writing!

Rob Parnell is a prolific writer who’s published novels, short stories, and articles in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, and a teacher who’s conducted writing workshops, critique groups, and seminars.

Please visit Mr. Parnell’s Web site at:

http://easywaytowrite.com

Writing—QED

Writing—QED
By Rob Parnell

Good fiction is about forward thrust.

It's your job to propel the reader through your story without having them feel they are wading through your writing. In fact, your ultimate aim is somehow make the reader feel they're not actually reading at all.

It's what my friend Kenyon calls transparency—the idea that there is nothing between your reader's mind and your story - nothing as ugly as the text getting in the way!

Q.E.D. is a little acronym you might want to use to help you remember what you need to create compelling fiction on every page of your stories. Q.E.D. stands for:

Question

Empathy

Drama

Questions encourage people to look for answers. When readers read fiction they are asking themselves a series of questions about your characters and about your story.

Only when you satisfy your reader by feeding questions and later on providing answers will the reader feel entertained.

At the beginning of a new sheet of paper, ask yourself, What question am I going to place in the reader’s mind on this page?

You must have one - it's what makes the reader keep reading.
Without constantly stoking curiosity, a reader will simply get bored and not read on.

Empathy is crucial too. We looked at this. Not only is it important that you create empathy for your characters early on, you will also need to keep reinforcing it as you go.

Hopefully the actions that your characters make will take care of some of this. But you should be aware that if you feel your characters slipping away from you, it's probably because you're not keeping them human enough to be compelling.

A reader's total empathy with a character can be powerful. It is the hallmark of all good fiction writers. To create a hero that is credible and popular is the goal of most leading authors. Because once you've done that, you can take your readers almost anywhere with them.

When it's done well, the reader is totally in the your thrall and will trust you to take him further, on the adventure that is your novel, or series of novels.

Use it consciously. Readers rarely spot that you're doing it deliberately. They only know what they like and that is, for the time they are reading, they like being your lead character.

Lastly, D is for Drama again. It's important that you create drama, conflict and tension at least once on every page. It's the way of modern fiction.

People want to be entertained. But they've seen it all before. On
TV and at the movies. Try to think of new ways of being dramatic.

Don't get bogged down with description. You don't need long explanations or descriptions of things they are familiar with. It’s just not necessary.

Readers want to be thrown into the thick of things immediately.
There are a hundred ways to do that but most of them involve action, conflict and drama. If you find yourself wandering from the point and nothing in particular is happening, cut back to where the last piece of conflict was, delete all the verbiage and static writing and move off again—this time at high speed!

Imagine you're a soap opera writer where every scene counts, and every exchange is emotionally charged. Try not to sink into melodrama - but be aware that you're writing primarily to entertain.

At the beginning and ending of every new page ask yourself:

Q.E.D? Have I fulfilled the three requirements of compelling fiction?

If the answer is yes then you're probably on the way to becoming the next bestseller writer!

Guest blogger Rob Parnell is a prolific writer who’s published novels, short stories, and articles in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, and a teacher who’s conducted writing workshops, critique groups, and seminars.

Please visit Mr. Parnell’s Web site at:

http://easywaytowrite.com

Becoming a Fiction Writer: A 10 Step Guide

Becoming a Fiction Writer: A 10 Step Guide
By Rob Parnell

The urge to write fiction seems God given for some, a learned skill for others.

One thing is certain—it requires practice and a particular mindset. But, if you’re a beginner, where do you start?

The following 10 tips will help kick-start your writing habit, whether you’re a complete novice, or perhaps a pro who has lost his or her way!

1. Step Away From the Car, Sir.

Slightly detach yourself from your surroundings. Stop participating and begin observing. In social situations, watch people, see how they act and—more importantly—interact.

Don’t pass judgment. Take it all in—and draw on it later when you write.

2. Look Harder, Homer

Stop and look around you. Consciously notice the buildings, what’s underfoot, overhead, and what’s right in front of you.

At home, look at something you take for granted. An iron, for instance. Find yours and study it.

3. Write Thinking Will Be Rewarded.

A simple technique. Your mother is making tea and you are chatting to her. Take a mental step back and describe the scene.

Similarly, when you’re outside, describe your environment as though you were writing it down.

4. What Reasons Do You Need?

Don’t wait for inspiration—just write!

Force yourself to write anything at all. A shopping list. An overheard conversation. Describe your bedroom.

It doesn’t matter how personal it is, or how trivial, just get it down!

5. Wakey Wakey!

Set your alarm clock for an hour earlier than normal.

When the alarm goes off, get up. Don’t dress, bathe or eat. Don’t even make coffee. Just stagger to your writing space and write the first thing that comes into your head for five minutes.

6. Oh, God—Not That!

Think of the most awful and embarrassing thing you’ve ever done - the more cringe-worthy the better. Now write about it. All of it, in all its gory, horrible detail.

Then hide it away for a year or so before you read it again!

7. Like Your Style, Baby.

Don’t limit yourself. Write poems, songs, dialogue, fact, fiction, even practice writing advertising copy or horoscopes.

Your expertise improves in all areas – an improvement in one area can reap benefits in another.

8. The Sincerest Form of Flattery

Take out a classic book from your bookcase. Copy out a paragraph. Think about the words as you write them. Don’t get intimidated!

9. Wanna See My Invention?

When you’re not writing, string together stories in your mind. Think of plots, characters, settings, dénouements.

Ask yourself what you should do next to improve your writing.

Develop this technique into a habit.

10. It’s a Goal!

When you start writing regularly, set yourself small goals. Anything from 200 words a day, or just a commitment to writing in your diary.

Later extend to finishing a short story, or an article or a poem. Perhaps one in a week.

The trick is to set goals you can achieve easily.

That way you’ll get the writing habit - and you won’t forget to enjoy it.

Rob Parnell is a prolific writer who’s published novels, short stories, and articles in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, and a teacher who’s conducted writing workshops, critique groups, and seminars.

Please visit Mr. Parnell’s Web site at:

http://easywaytowrite.com/

Top 5 Writing Apps for 2010

Series Fiction: A Love Story

Series Fiction: A Love Story
By Christine Taylor

I started a new series today. There I was, minding my own business, when I got invited to a writing party. Sure, I thought. I'll attend, have fun, flirt with some new fiction. Maybe even sci-fi. It's just one short story. I don't need to take any of this further. So I wrote 304 words. Then I glanced across the sea of letters, and saw it.

Potential.

Blam. It hit me. This one's for keeps.

At first I was excited—I couldn't wait to start. Let's do it now, let's do a series! Forget the preparation for a big novel, we'll just do stories. Later we can renew the vows with an anthology.

But I knew that feeling. I'd been in love with a story before, only to have the ardor fade after a few weeks or months. I looked at the draft notes on my page and wondered: Can I do this? Can I stay with this series...for as long as its ideas live?

Romancing the words

It's easy to fall in love for one story. Especially a short story. You don't have time to run into a lot of trouble. Everything's new and fresh and scintillating. It could go anywhere—become anything! You linger over every character interaction with boldness and daring, pushing yourself beyond your safe space, your reserve, because you're caught up in wild abandon. No one will judge your whole life from one story. You're free to try something new, spread your wings.

But a series is different. It's a commitment, like a life-long relationship. It means going beyond the enchantment and excitement of newness. It's saying you'll stick around when the fresh, new ideas become familiar and predictable. You'll sit down with it every day, even when it gets cranky and argumentative. Even when you get cranky and argumentative. You won't turn your back on it when attractive adjectives are washed away and the blemished structure is revealed.

You'll stay, for better or worse.

True love conquers all

As time goes on, you'll work at the relationship. You'll grow to love the familiar, and challenge yourself to invent ways to spark new excitement. You'll take it to new locations, and revisit the places you first fell in love. You'll get to the point where you can't wait to see it in the morning, can't wait to discover what it will surprise you with that day. You'll run with it, year after year, growing in harmony. You'll start to fear the possibility that the run will end; then you'll chase the fear away and exult in every moment you get to spend together. Because this word, this setting, this moment, will never come again.

It's a commitment...and a joy. It makes you better. Makes you grow.

So you'll be ready when the next commitment comes.

"Honey, we're expecting a spin-off!"

Christine Taylor (aka mousewords) is a California writer, artist, and social media consultant. She and her sister Stacy survived carbon monoxide poisoning, an experience which inspired them to create the "Barrister Mystery" series of novels, short stories, and spin-offs. Christine Twitters at http://twitter.com/mousewords Click here and blogs at http://mousewords.net Click here, where she rarely writes about herself in the third person.

Kurt Andersen on the Struggle of Writing

Lauren Willig - 3/2/09 Lady Jane's Salon, NYC

Author Lauren Willig reading an excerpt from her NY Times Best Seller book THE TEMPTATION OF THE NIGHT JASMINE at Lady Jane's Salon, Madame X, NYC. March 2, 2009.

Lauren told me about this video: "A valiant crowd battled their way through an unseasonable March snowstorm to attend the second ever meeting of Lady Jane's Salon, New York's first romance reading series. The other writer's plane had been delayed... and delayed... and delayed again, so I wound up having a good deal more time to fill than anticipated. I usually read from the beginning of the book, to set up the story, but this time, with extra time on my hands, and people in need of a laugh on a grim and blustery night, I picked my favorite passage from the middle of the book, in which my modern heroine's best friend attempts to classify the male sex by comparing them to various ice cream flavors. It went over very well. Of course, that might also have been the champagne everyone was drinking... including me!"

I Can’t Put It Down: How to Write Compelling Fiction

I Can’t Put It Down: How to Write Compelling Fiction
By Rob Parnell

How many times have you heard people say this about a book? Have you ever analyzed the books that people say this about?

I have.

They all share one “secret” in common.

Questions.

Reading is not a passive exercise. Not to the brain, anyway.

As you read and take in the information on the page, the brain is trying to work out where the story is going, what significance certain actions might have. It’s also trying to work out puzzles and generally trying to second-guess the plot.

This is human nature. It’s what makes reading an interactive experience—where you have a kind of relationship with the author for as long as you’re reading

Stories that don’t make the reader ask questions are unsatisfying to read, as are stories where the reader guesses the outcome.

Many writers forget this and write aimlessly in the hope that the reader will like their style and want to read on, no matter what.

This is not a strategy for success! In order to be in control of your story—and your reader—you, the writer should feed them questions.

This is not as difficult as it sounds.

First you need the major question—your book’s reason for being, if you like.

This is in essence the “theme” of your novel summed up in one sentence.

Questions like “Does money create happiness?” or “Will good triumph over evil?” You should subtly place this question in the mind of your reader quite early on in your book, so that the reader is already on a kind of quest for the truth.

Next you have chapter questions that are more specific to your characters. Like “Will Alex overcome his problems?” or “Will Sally win the love of her father?” This gives your reader a reason to read on—just to find out!

Then, you should have smaller questions at every point you can—at least one every 500 words.

Here’s an example:

“Lucy went to see her father. He was angry that she was seeing Brad but she told him there was nothing he could do about it.”

Obviously this is flat and lifeless prose that invites no great speculation.

How about this?

“Lucy stared at her father’s implacable face. When he was like this, she couldn’t gauge his feelings. She swallowed hard. If he were angry, she’d end up with nowhere to live.

“I won’t stop seeing Brad,’ she said, not quite believing her own words.”

You see the difference?

In the second passage the reader is forced to ask three questions.

1. What’s her father thinking?

2. Will Lucy get kicked out?

3. Will she carry on seeing Brad?

Rather than simply stating what your characters think and do, always try to leave an element of uncertainty in the reader’s mind as to what will happen next.

The trick is to get your reader asking questions constantly. Yes - on every page, so that there’s a compulsive need to turn the page, if only to find out the answers.

Good novelists do this unconsciously—they know it’s the best way to tell a story.

Good crime novelists deliberately get you to ask all the WRONG questions so that their plot twists are far more effective.

People keep turning the page in bestselling novels because they are in a constant state of limbo—ignorant of what’s coming next but eager to find out. In effect, it’s almost a state of agitation, even frustration that will keep a reader turning the page.

Has this happened to you?

It’s weird because you almost HATE what you’re reading—there are so many unanswered questions—but you just can’t put it down!

Rob Parnell is a prolific writer who’s published novels, short stories, and articles in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, and a teacher who’s conducted writing workshops, critique groups, and seminars.

Please visit Mr. Parnell’s Web site at:

http://easywaytowrite.com
Click here

Online Course: How To Be Your Own Best Fiction Editor

HOW TO BE YOUR OWN BEST FICTION EDITOR Online Course
http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse200910
Click here

INSTRUCTOR: Lisa Kastner
DATE: October 1-24, 2009
COST: $25 ($30 non-Pennwriters)

Learn to easily analyze characters & plots like a pro, new ways to look at your writing with fresh eyes. Save time & rejection. Revise your story like an editor & get it published fast.

Scene vs. Summary or: It’s Time for Show and Tell

Scene vs. Summary or: It’s Time for Show and Tell
By Jeanne Lyet Gassman

Every beginning fiction writer is advised to “show, don’t tell.” But what does this really mean? I can remember attending a writer’s conference early in my career, listening to a renowned author repeat this adage as the most important thing every writer should know. Of course, I thought, nodding sagely, that makes perfect sense.

Then I left the conference wondering, How do you do it?

Scene vs. summary. Personally, I think the words “show” and “tell” are a bit too abstract for most beginning writers to grasp. I’ve heard many writers swear that they were “showing” when, in fact, they were doing the exact opposite. Perhaps the terms “scene” and “summary” would be more helpful in understanding the difference.

Summary. Let’s begin with the concept of summary (telling).

Suppose you have a friend who attended a very exciting party. On Monday morning, he tells you that Tom drank too much and embarrassed his wife, Jane. He complains to you about the waiters, saying that they acted snooty. Your friend laughs about Rick’s funny stories but can’t remember the details of them. In essence, he is summarizing (telling) the events at the party. Since you didn’t go to the party, you didn’t see what Tom did to embarrass his wife. You didn’t experience the waiters ignoring people’s drink orders. You didn’t hear any of Rick’s jokes. Your job as the writer is to bring the reader to the party. How do you do this? You write scenes rather than summary.

Scene. A scene can be as short as a single paragraph or as long as several pages. It should contain at least two of the following elements:

Direct action
Dialogue
Internal monologue
Narration

Of these, narration is the least dynamic component of fiction. When a writer depends too much on narration, he risks falling into the trap of summarizing (telling) rather than creating active scenes (showing). Narration either sets the scene or functions as a transition for time or place. As a transition in time, your narration might look something like this: “It took Sarah three hours to clean all of the blood from the carpet.” This is an example of transition in setting: “Peter left his grandmother’s house and returned to work.”

Note that I have not listed description as an important component of a scene. When description isn’t incorporated into action, dialogue, or thought, it becomes static, presenting itself as the deadly “telling” creature. For example: “She wore a red woolen scarf.” (telling/summary) Compare this to the more active: “Wrapping her red woolen scarf snugly around her neck, she braved the stinging wind.” (showing/scene)

From summary to scene. To view the scene vs. summary process in action, let’s take a look at two examples of the same event. The first version is summary (telling):

“Judith was furious when Richard asked for a divorce after almost fourteen years of marriage.”

Now, let’s convert that to a scene (showing):

“Richard was still blabbing on and on about ‘spending some time apart’ and the need to ‘find himself,’ but Judith had stopped listening long ago. She found herself staring at his teeth. They were ugly teeth really, big and flat like a beaver’s teeth, and the handlebar mustache he had grown last year only accentuated their hideous shape. Richard truly had the mouth of a nasty rodent. How had she missed such an important detail in almost fourteen years of marriage? She looked down at her hands, aware that she had shredded her paper napkin into small bits of confetti. She wondered if her fingernails could accomplish that same result on Richard’s pasty cheek.”

Do you see the difference? We know exactly how Judith feels without ever once telling the reader that she’s angry. Some writers mistakenly worry that showing creates wordiness, but a fully realized scene will always contain more words than simple narration. And a scene with action, dialogue, and emotion is much more compelling than a summary.

Just for fun this time, I will close this with a homework challenge. The following is the summary of a scene that appears in the novel, The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan. See if you can find the scene it summarizes. (Hint: The scene appears in the chapter called: “JING-MEI WOO: Best Quality.”)

“After dinner, I helped my mother clear and wash the dishes. I tried to compliment her on the dinner, but she dismissed my compliment. I guess Chinese mothers are like that. I asked her why she didn’t eat her crab, and she insisted that the crab was spoiled. She told me she knew the crab was bad before she cooked it. I asked her what she would have done if someone else at dinner had chosen the spoiled crab, but she didn’t seem concerned. She smiled and said that she knew I was the only other person at the dinner who would have picked the bad crab because everyone else wants the best quality for himself.”

Happy writing! And don’t forget to invite your readers to the party!

Jeanne Lyet Gassman is an award-winning writer whose fiction and nonfiction has been published in numerous magazines, newsletters, and anthologies. The recipient of artistic grants from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and the Creative Capital Foundation, she is currently studying for her MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts. She lives in Phoenix and teaches writing workshops and classes in the metro area.

Visit Ms. Gassman at her Web site:

http://www.jeannelyetgassman.com
Click here

Or her blog:

http://jeannelyetgassman.blogspot.com
Click here

Following the Rules of Creating Fiction: But How Far?

Following the Rules of Creating Fiction: But How Far?
By Hugh Rosen

The question arises periodically as to whether there are any rules to follow in writing creative fiction. Indeed, there are! Yet that leaves us with the quandary over to what extent they should be followed. Are they absolutely rigid, leaving no latitude for departing from them; or can the author simply deviate from them at her whim? This article is an attempt to grapple with that issue.

It is helpful to keep in mind that previous fiction writers who have endured the test of time had no set of rules to follow. One has only to think of such great novelists as Cervantes, Dickens, Henry James, Flaubert, Dostoevsky, Jane Austen, and Virginia Woolf, to name but a few. In fact, writing styles have evolved up to contemporary times, yet many of the rules are derived from reading great novels of the past. Today, rules are manifest on commentaries in domains such as punctuation, grammar, conflict, tension, dialogue, plot, characters, setting, description, and so forth.

A good piece of advice that is often advanced is that the author is free to break the rules, but she must first know them and have a compelling rationale for breaking them. Sometimes the rationale is based on reason, intuition, or merely the feeling that "It seems to work better this way." Rules, after all, are not prison bars intended to constrain the novelist or short story writer within a confined space. Nevertheless, it is worth noting parenthetically, that we find multiple bursts of creativity and genius within the rigid form of Shakespeare's sonnets.

In general, the codification of rules by committees and even those to be found in the by-laws of institutions are often written with a degree of ambiguity and absence of specificity in order to allow for the possibility of interpretation to meet the demands of situation and context. Granted that this is not always the case, nor would it be desirable at all times, but it does occur in order to impart flexibility of application where and when it might be called for. Rules should be regarded as guidelines rather than obstructions. The very notion that rules are considered as constraints or obstructions is antithetical to creativity and innovation.

Ray Bradbury has suggested that, "Life is trying things to see if they work." He may as well have said the same thing about creative writing and I wouldn't be surprised if he had that in mind. Andre Gide has said, "One doesn't discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time." If we think of the shore as the boundaries set by rules, then we find encouragement in these words to break the rules when the occasion calls for it.

One rule that is frequently invoked by writers about writing is to minimize the use of flashbacks. Imparting flashbacks to one's writing may disrupt the flow of the story's development, particularly if they are frequent and long. Yet what if multiple flashbacks are artfully interwoven within the plot's forward movement so that they actually advance the plot or illuminate the depth to some of the major characters, or both? I would submit that if the author so adjudicates, then it is permissible to break that rule. The flashbacks then become an integral and organic part of the story, rather than a distraction. Admittedly, pulling this off requires skill and talent, but without the confidence to venture in this direction, the author will limit her creative development over time. As Jimmy Johnson asks, "Do you want to be safe and good or do you want to take a chance and be great?"

Probably the most repeated rules of all is, "Show, don't tell." Yet there are long passages of the works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez in which he "tells" rather than "shows." Despite his breaking of this rule, his stories have delighted readers around the world and are amongst the finest that literature has to offer. Even his masterful use of "magical realism," which defies all logic and reason, is so artfully incorporated into some of his work that the reader is completely willing to go along with it rather than to challenge or reject it. There is an applicable saying to be invoked here, "Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." (This quote is attributed to H. Jackson Brown.)

The premise I am promoting here is not that one should irreverently disregard the well-established rules of creative fiction, but that when the author's judgment, coming from whatever source, urges breaking the rules, it is worth taking the risk, so that one's work may have the opportunity of achieving greatness and not be merely good by playing it safe. If the author fails in the attempt, then she should look for what may be learned by the failure so as to grow in the future. In the words of Mark Twain, "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do....Explore. Dream. Discover." What if Kafka hadn't risked having Gregor Samsa wake up one morning as a huge bug, as he did in the short story, "The Metamorphosis?"

Professor Emeritus Hugh Rosen, D.S.W., born and raised in Philadelphia, Pa., is the sole author of three academic books and has co-edited three others on cognitive development, moral reasoning, and psychotherapy, and has published a novel, Silent Battlefields.

Please feel free to visit his Web site at:

http://www.hughrosen.com
Click here

Kurt Vonnegut's Great Advice on Writing Short Stories

CHARACTER-DRIVEN PLOT Online Course

CHARACTER-DRIVEN PLOT Online Course
http://tinyurl.com/PennwritersCourse200907
Click here

INSTRUCTOR: Nancy Martin
DATE: July 1 - 22, 2009
$25/$30 non-Pennwriters

Get your story plot ready for publishing with a character who can drive it to an exciting climax. Novelist Nancy Martin dissects storytelling theorists so you can take your protagonist on a true Hero's Journey.

How to Generate Short Story Ideas

Joyce Carol Oates: About Writing Characters

A Note on Modernism: “Language is an order of reality itself."

A Note on Modernism: “Language is an order of reality itself.”By Ann Bogle

Willa Cather (1873-1947) and Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) are American modernists. Both were born in the East and migrated with their families West. Both returned East –Cather to New York and Pittsburgh, Stein to Paris–and both were mentored by the brothers, novelist Henry James and psychologist William James. I discovered these and other biographical similarities—both lesbians, as another example–in writing about them in 1991: “Stein was pitching forward in time and language; Cather was casting back.”

In The Making of Americans, Stein wrote, “The old people in a new world, the new people made out of the old, that is the story I mean to tell.” How different is that from Cather’s use of the biographical past to write her pioneers? Stein lived as an expatriate, Cather as a city dweller exiled from the Nebraska prairie of her childhood. When Stein returned to Oakland to visit, she said, “There is no there there,” meaning that the place in her memory no longer existed. Yet the two writers could not in other ways be more different. Stein wrote in the country of language surrounded by Europeans; Cather “reached back into her personal past for a record of Europe in America instead of looking for America in Europe.”

In her essay, “Six Stein Styles in Search of a Reader,” Marjorie Perloff writes, “(Like) the great realists of the nineteenth century who were her precursors, Stein believed that the domain of literature was the real rather than the ideal, the ordinary rather than the unusual, the everyday rather than the fantastic. But, as Lyn Hejinian observes, realism can be an attitude toward language itself rather than only toward the objects to which language refers: ‘Perhaps it was the discovery that language is an order of reality itself and not a mere mediating medium—that it is possible and even likely that one can have a confrontation with a phrase that is as significant as a confrontation with a tree, chair, cone, dog, bishop, piano, vineyard, door, or penny.’”

Ann Bogle has published short stories, prose, and poetry in many literary journals in print and online. For a listing of her publications and a sampling of her writing visit Ana Verse at:

http://annbogle.blogspot.com
Click here

New York Writers Workshop’s Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference

New York Writers Workshop’s Perfect Pitch Fiction Conference where novelists pitch manuscripts to editors from major New York publishing houses (Viking, Penguin, Random House, Scribners, Simon and Schuster, others). Saturday special: a panel of agents.
Date: Fri – Sun, May 29-31, 2009
Location: Midtown Manhattan
For details visit http://www.newyorkwritersworkshop.com
Click here
Or write newyorkwritersworkshop@gmail.com

Awesome Monday Night at The Inspired Word!

Tierra Sana Restaurant in Forest Hills, Queens, rocked with great writing last night.

For making it such a memorable night, I wish to extend my great gratitude to Vic and Stephanie Fiallo, the wonderfully gracious owners of Tierra Sana, to our MCs, Marron Cox and Foster Stevenson, and to our very talented and highly spirited writers, Emily Crocker, Roxanne Hoffman, Lawrence E. Soehnel, Leanna Renee Hieber, and Celia Farber.

Below are three past YouTube videos of our writers in action:

Leanna Renee Hieber



Roxanne Hoffman



Lawrence E. Soehnel



Our next event is April 6th.

Time: 7:00-9:00 pm (though you're welcome to stay until closing time!)

Free wine tasting! Free appetizers! Awesome ambience and food! A great collection of writers and their work!

Writers Scheduled to Read:

Janice Brabaw is the author of Universe, Disturbed, her first collection of poetry that draws directly from her teenage and college journals when she suffered from debilitating depression. She is also the author of And Again: A Memoir of a Life Disordered which chronicles her struggles with depression and borderline personality disorder. And Again is slated to be released in 2009 and Universe, Disturbed is currently in it's second edition. Brabaw lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She runs the literary & musical series, Stained Glass Confessional in Brooklyn and has read at The Bowery Poetry Club, Otto's Shrunken Head, The Cake Shop, and the Library Lounge series at Telephone Bar. Her work has appeared in Poesis, The Toronto Quarterly, Ophelia Street, The Record, and The Cartier Street Review. Her website is: www.JaniceBrabaw.com

Alissa Heyman is a freelance writer and editor, as well as a Production Editor at Oxford University Press. She is the editor of THE BEST POEMS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE (Mud Puddle Books), which includes brief biographies and annotations of poets and poems from Beowulf to T.S. Eliot. Her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Lyric and St. Petersburg Review. She is co-curator of The Graduate Poetry Reading Series at Cornelia Street Cafe. Heyman received her MFA in Poetry at Sarah Lawrence College where she was Managing Editor of Lumina magazine. She has also adapted and abridged a series of children's books, including THE BIG BOOK OF HORROR, THE BIG BOOK OF ADVENTURE, and THE BIG BOOK OF KNIGHTS, NOBLES, AND KNAVES (Sterling Publishing). She lives in Kew Gardens with her husband.

Michael Northrop's first young adult novel, GENTLEMEN, has just been published by Scholastic. He has written short fiction for the Notre Dame Review, The Adirondack Review, Weird Tales, and McSweeney's. He has been an associate editor at The World Almanac and a senior editor at Sports Illustrated Kids.

Amy Ouzoonian is the host of Uzi's Open every Thursday at Tribes Gallery in the Lower East Side. She is the author of Your Pill (poetry Foothills Publishing) and the editor of three anthologies of poetry, "In the Arms of Words", "Poems for Tsunami Relief", and "Skyscrapers, Taxis and Tampons." She lives and creates art in Queens.

Sarah Riley is a writer and filmmaker based in New York City. She performs live Visual Artistry as a collaborative force with various DIY Artists, using music, text, video, and human experience as mediums. Ms. Riley’s body of work includes five film shorts and various published writings. She has recently completed her first novella, Borderlands.

Mary Saliba is a poet and writer living in New York City. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts with her BFA, and later earned her MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. While at Emerson, she studied poetry with Bill Knott and wrote a book of poems for her thesis, entitled, “Please Steal Something Before You Go.” Her fiction and poetry have appeared in small press publications which mainly begin with the letters “A” and “B” because she has never managed to get farther than that in The Writer’s Market. Her short fiction was recently reprinted in the anthology, “Brevity and Echo,” and is used in the textbook “What If: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers.” She has been a newspaper editor, reporter and features writer at many publications in New York and New Hampshire, and is currently working on a novel.

Taína is the Founder/Producer of The Latino Poets' Society Spoken Word Tour, a national spoken word tour consisting of an all Latino cast, a TV producer/Independent filmmaker, writer, photographer, and performing poet in NYC. She is a consummate artist with an observant eye, a passion for her culture and an undying drive to showcase the social ills of a lopsided society, Always on a quest to reach individuals in less than fortunate circumstances, she draws from her own experiences and never runs out of hope or inspiration. Through her work, she intends on changing people’s lives with one piece of art at a time.

Boris Zilberman grew up in New York City and graduated from Hunter College with a double degree in Creative Writing and Psychology. In addition to writing fiction and poetry, Boris performs stand-up comedy and improv when he's not working full time in internet marketing. It's also no secret that he loves an audience, though he isn't always sure what to do with one. He recently was one of the stars of "Monolgues," a spoken-word show directed by Def Poet Vanessa Hidary.

MCs: Foster Stevenson, Marron Cox

Location: Tierra Sana Restaurant
http://www.tierrasana.com/
100-17 Queens Blvd & 67th Road
Forest Hills, Queens
New York City

By subway, take the local R or V to 67th Avenue stop (and it's right there between 67th Road and 67th Avenue along Queens Boulevard).

All you need to bring is your love for the written word.

Best,

Mike

Fascinating Interview with Stephen King/7 Parts