Lesser Known Chekhovian Techniques

Funny piece in McSweeney's here in parody of Chekhov's famous advice--

"If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it's not going to be fired, it shouldn't be hanging there." From S. Shchukin, Memoirs (1911)

Writers on Revision

What is written without effort is in general read without pleasure. ~ Samuel Johnson

On plenty of days the writer can write three or four pages, and on plenty of other days he concludes he must throw them away. ~ Annie Dillard

I try to leave out the parts that people skip. ~ Elmore Leonard

I'm not a very good writer, but I'm an excellent rewriter. ~ James Michener

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. ~ Scott Adams

I can't write five words but that I change seven. - Dorothy Parker

A Brief Handbook on Revision for Writers by Tom Jenks in Narrative Magazine -- a good guideline for how to revise. (You'll need to get a free login from Narrative to read on the site.)

Enjoy!

Here is a link to "Girl," a short-short by Jamaica Kincaid that I mentioned in my 12:30 class today.