Writing a novel is a journey like that described by the blind seer in, O, Brother, Where Art Thou? Dirs.Coen, Ethan and Joel Coen. Perf. George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, John Goodman, Holly Hunter, and Chris Thomas King, Touchtone Pictures, 2000. Blind Seer: "You seek a great fortune, you three who are now in …
“Murder Your Darlings”
"Murder Your Darlings,"(On Style, chapter 12) is a quote from Arthur Quiller-Couch's series of published lectures (On the Art of Writing, 1916) He encouraged writer's to, "...perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it--wholeheartedly--and delete it before sending your manuscript to press..." He failed to mention, however, that tapping the delete button would require Hershey Kiss therapy for at least a …
The Natural Shape of a Story
Truman Capote was asked in an interview by Patti Hill, "How does one arrive at short-story technique?" His answer applies to novels as well: "Since each story presents its own technical problems, obviously one can’t generalize about them on a two-times-two-equals-four basis. Finding the right form for your story is simply to realize the most …
Creating a Scene
Creating a scene for a novel is like cooking something from scratch without a recipe. Add the sentence; taste it; add another sentence; roll it around with the others, then tweak the whole thing until everything blends into a savory morsel.
My “Precious”
My "Precious" makes me insane. I have a story in my head. I want to share it with others but it must be planned and structured. Then it must be perfectly formatted, punctuated, and edited or an agent will reject it. Various writing craft books and blogs from our age tout, "Start in the middle …
Phyllis A. Still 