Category: Writing
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Gangs and Pickpockets
In my Storyssentials post on Research, I talked about how a storyteller must assign himself homework. Mine involves a decent amount of gilded age reading (and viewing). Some might assume I want to write steampunk. Though this coming series employs some steamy elements, I wouldn’t classify it that way. For one, few use steam. For another,…
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Oh My God
Since this is a platform first for my business, I try to keep spiritual/political/inflammatory things from here. I typically fail in an epic sort of way. However, as many of you saw on the sociable networkings this week, I — a soon to be twenty-five-year-old man — came down with THE SHINGLES. I capitalize it…
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Penguin Anthology of 20th Century American Poetry
I used to be a poet. Of sorts. At least I used to think of myself in that way when I was young. Now as an adult I rarely find time for poetry, rarely make time to think high thoughts and enjoy language for its primary purpose: intimacy. We tend to favor language for persuasion…
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Automate Second Drafts
If you’ve ever written a paper, story or speech, you’ll want to learn how to do this. Elsewhere I’ve ranted about the benefits of reading your words aloud or having someone read them back to you. Things sound different when spoken into the air, when you hear words exist as they were intended – audible…
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Rejection Letter Fail
Therapeutic to watch a writer tweak this rejection email sent CC: by mistake from agent to 238 of us:#amwriting #fail pic.twitter.com/MRF2qhFf (This email thread went on for hours as we all bantered back and forth about it. They call themselves “The 238”).
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Zombie Church by Tyler Edwards
When I first glanced at the title Zombie Church by my man Tyler, I immediately recalled the part of Resident Evil 4 where all the monk zombies come out of the abbey grumbling in Latin, chasing you around the graveyard. Or was it priest zombies running out of a cathedral? In any case, the imagery…
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Cartography: Our Picture of Us
The Cartographer’s Guild encouraged me in my map making. Since then I noticed how maps disinter our understanding of the world. Maps do not show us where things are or where things were. They reveal who we are and how we think. Take Hecataeus: He’s missing a couple two or three continents. His world is…
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Manuscripts Milton and Melting
Either my wife’s prayer, a cup of Prince of Wales tea (don’t buy any) or the deadline of “before the holidays” forced me to complete the first draft of my second novel shortly after Monday’s letter post. It felt nothing like the first time. The first time, finals week loomed in the dorms. I keyed in…
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The Facebook Sonnet by Sherman Alexie
Featured download: If you’re looking for the full text of The Facebook Sonnet, click here. As I beefed up my submission for Chrysallis‘ next issue Patterns, I tried to catch up on way-overdue poetry reads, digging through old New Yorkers, searching for the last three Missouri Reviews and getting a bit further in my copy of…
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Sitting at the Feet of a Film Analyst (part 6 ~ Fin)
In part five, we wrestled through the problems of interpreting symbolism in film. This shorter conclusion to the Film Analyst ATE works through the idea of the new American hero in film. (We also praise demolition engineers who get paid to blow $#!! up). Doug Welch: “See? You didn’t bring anything to the movie, did…