Matt mentioned Elmore Leonard's rule, "Leave out the parts readers tend to skip," in my 12:30 class last week. Here are the rest of Leonard's rules, along with lists from other writers.
Note Richard Ford's rule #2: "Don't have children."
Monday, January 30, 2012
Saturday, January 28, 2012
6-word Stories
Inspired by Hemingway: here
Some of the better ones:
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller
Three to Iraq. One came back.
- Graeme Gibson
Thanks to Molly for the link!
Some of the better ones:
Longed for him. Got him. Shit.
- Margaret Atwood
With bloody hands, I say good-bye.
- Frank Miller
Three to Iraq. One came back.
- Graeme Gibson
Thanks to Molly for the link!
Monday, January 23, 2012
Natasha Tretheway
Museum to hold Ekphrasic poetry reading Jan. 26
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Tretheway will host an Ekphrasic poetry reading at The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Thursday, Jan. 26, at 5 p.m.
Tretheway holds the Phillis Wheatley Distinguished Chair in Poetry at Emory University. This program is in relation to "Promises of Freedom: Selections from the Arthur Primas Collection," an exhibition celebrating 150 years of African American art on display at the museum through March 10. This event also addresses issues that appear in "Mountains Beyond Mountains," Auburn's 2011-2012 Common Book.
Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Tretheway will host an Ekphrasic poetry reading at The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Thursday, Jan. 26, at 5 p.m.
Tretheway holds the Phillis Wheatley Distinguished Chair in Poetry at Emory University. This program is in relation to "Promises of Freedom: Selections from the Arthur Primas Collection," an exhibition celebrating 150 years of African American art on display at the museum through March 10. This event also addresses issues that appear in "Mountains Beyond Mountains," Auburn's 2011-2012 Common Book.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Richard Bausch
. . . was born in Fort Benning, so he's a semi-local kind of guy. Here is his author website.
A review of his collected stories.
A video of Bausch giving a speech called "Letter to a Young Writer."
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Denis Johnson
"Emergency" comes from Johnson's novel-in-stories Jesus' Son, which was made into a movie starring Billy Crudup. (Jack Black played Georgie and Denis Johnson himself played the guy with the knife in the eye. Watch the scene.)
Tobias Wolff reads the story and offers his commentary on it in this podcast from the New Yorker site.
Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, claims to have read the book 300 times.
Johnson once said, “My ear for the diction and rhythms of poetry was trained by — in chronological order — Dr. Seuss, Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman, the guitar solos of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, and T. S. Eliot. Other influences come and go, but those I admire the most and those I admired the earliest (I still admire them) have something to say in every line I write. I don’t like William Faulkner. I think Wallace Stevens writes like the photograph of a person, not a person. But they too have had their effect on me.”
Tobias Wolff reads the story and offers his commentary on it in this podcast from the New Yorker site.
Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club, claims to have read the book 300 times.
Johnson once said, “My ear for the diction and rhythms of poetry was trained by — in chronological order — Dr. Seuss, Dylan Thomas, Walt Whitman, the guitar solos of Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, and T. S. Eliot. Other influences come and go, but those I admire the most and those I admired the earliest (I still admire them) have something to say in every line I write. I don’t like William Faulkner. I think Wallace Stevens writes like the photograph of a person, not a person. But they too have had their effect on me.”
Postcard Exercise
Write a story short enough to fit on your postcard; you will send it to an actual friend.
The story should have nothing to do with your friend or with the fact that you are writing it on a postcard. Decide on the friend before you start writing the story—who you write to should influence the story itself—a story to your mother is going to be different than a story to your best friend or lover.
You may want to write down the story first and make some edits or compressions before putting your story on the postcard. (Remember that you need to leave room for the address and stamp.) If you write small, you may be able to fit 300 words, but your story will likely be around 150 words, a small story indeed. Write to fill the whole space, left, right, top, and bottom. As you come close to the end of the space, remember to wrap up your story. Don’t waste any space introducing yourself or your story to the friend; just jump right in.
Bring the postcard to me with a stamp and address when it’s done. I will drop them in the mail.
The story should have nothing to do with your friend or with the fact that you are writing it on a postcard. Decide on the friend before you start writing the story—who you write to should influence the story itself—a story to your mother is going to be different than a story to your best friend or lover.
You may want to write down the story first and make some edits or compressions before putting your story on the postcard. (Remember that you need to leave room for the address and stamp.) If you write small, you may be able to fit 300 words, but your story will likely be around 150 words, a small story indeed. Write to fill the whole space, left, right, top, and bottom. As you come close to the end of the space, remember to wrap up your story. Don’t waste any space introducing yourself or your story to the friend; just jump right in.
Bring the postcard to me with a stamp and address when it’s done. I will drop them in the mail.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Short-Short Exercise
Write a short short (500 words maximum) in which the TV plays a role. Let the words/images on the screen interact with or reflect on the situation in the story. Your characters can be watching TV or it can be background noise.
Post it to your blog by Tuesday. Also bring a postcard.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Lydia Davis and Short Shorts
Here is a video of Davis reading her work at Cornell University.
And some reading material . . .
Five Stories by Davis from Conjunctions Magazine.
More Stories by Davis, from her collected works.
An interview with Davis and Sarah Manguso from The Believer.
Another Interview with Therumpus.net.
And one more interview between Davis and Francine Prose from Bomb Magazine.
In StorySouth, Jason Sanford criticizes the short-short genre for blandness and for being a route to "quickie" publication for writers.
And some reading material . . .
Five Stories by Davis from Conjunctions Magazine.
More Stories by Davis, from her collected works.
An interview with Davis and Sarah Manguso from The Believer.
Another Interview with Therumpus.net.
And one more interview between Davis and Francine Prose from Bomb Magazine.
In StorySouth, Jason Sanford criticizes the short-short genre for blandness and for being a route to "quickie" publication for writers.
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