Monthly Archives: August 2011
A Workshop in Italy
For the summer of 2006, Hopkins decided to offer some workshops in Florence, Italy where the school owned a property, Villa Spelman. The trip was too good to pass up even though I knew it would put undue stress on my … Continue reading
No Tension?
The student who said there was no tension had been referring to a scene where my character’s grandpa explained why his wife had left him, an important set-up for something that happens later in the book. All of the information … Continue reading
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Poets and Writers Mag – MFA Nation
If you’re looking at writing schools, you won’t want to miss the September/October issue of PW. The magazine’s theme this month is MFA Nation and they rank the schools in this issue. This year, they also discuss not enrolling in an MFA and note writers who have been successful … Continue reading
Getting off Track
At first, I couldn’t quite understand why some stories didn’t “feel” right. Slowly, I started to understand what was missing and I knew that I wanted my drafts to include all of the things I’d learned so far, not just my first reaction … Continue reading
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Getting Some Good Feedback
My teacher liked the beginning, “All the different Kareems are here.” and suggested I use it as the title instead of “In Absentia.” She suggested useful line-edits that also helped. For the ending, she thought that I should include another … Continue reading
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Second Workshop
My first workshop wasn’t what I’d hoped for. Maybe I misinterpreted my teacher’s actions. I would like to think so. My desire to write was still intact; three decades had given me a stronger ego. I knew that I didn’t … Continue reading
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More Books to Read
11. The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino 12. Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll 13. Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton 14. The Latin American Triology by Louis de Bernieres 15. Tales of Neveryon by … Continue reading
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Favorite Books
At Sewanee, we talked a lot (of course) about our favorite books and ones that demonstrated effects we were trying to create. This list was passed along by someone in my workshop – was put together originally by Kevin Brockmeier, … Continue reading
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Sewanee Conference
I’m back home again. The conference lasts about two weeks if you include travel time. The workshop there was great. I have a novel that is pretty far along and I received some interesting comments from my teachers and friends … Continue reading
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