So, I am back from teaching, and learning, at Skidmore, the site of the 30th annual writers' conference of The International Women's Writing Guild, attended by hundreds of women doing every kind of writing imaginable, and an extraordinarily large number of gifted and devoted teachers, in an atmosphere unusually democratic and creatively fertile. I will… Continue reading Memories of Censorship; Beyond the World of Your Story; and Who the Heck is in Charge Around Here, Anyway?
Writing Craft
Freedom’s just another word for re-entering the mystery of your own writing, or, how to start writing again tomorrow!
I was going to tell you a bit of a story about a painting by Jose Clemente Orozco (one of the Mexican social realist muralists (1883-1949) along with Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros)-"Gods of the Modern World"-and I will. But as with any story, there are a few places to stop along the way,… Continue reading Freedom’s just another word for re-entering the mystery of your own writing, or, how to start writing again tomorrow!
Lyrical voice / narrative voice / character’s voice: Hints from Turkish music, one actress, and the power of travel
I have been listening to Turkish music after my sojourn in Turkey, and because of its very specific kind of driving energy, I realize again that the energy of different musics is part of what we deal with as writers, that one of the crucial elements often left out when we are "taught" to write,… Continue reading Lyrical voice / narrative voice / character’s voice: Hints from Turkish music, one actress, and the power of travel
The Effect of Travel on Storytellers
Having just returned from 2 months out of the country, including about 5 weeks in Turkey, I want to mention a few things about travel, and what for me seems to constitute a jolt to the writer who does travel, perhaps, especially, to the writer of story. Clearly, poets find themselves awash in images that… Continue reading The Effect of Travel on Storytellers
Writing and Place: Sniffing out the story
People who know that I am in Istanbul and know that I have begun a blog would reasonably expect a posting replete with my impressions of Istanbul, and there are many, but I think I need to take my time to bring something forward about what I really see here. I keep remembering Froudacity; West… Continue reading Writing and Place: Sniffing out the story
How does a writer work to develop authentic characters and deepen characterization, whether in fiction or memoir?
For this post, I’d like to address a question which comes up often in workshops and classes, and calls for a much longer response than this entry will be, a response from many voices: How does a writer develop authentic characters, and deepen characterization? My intent for the suggested writing exploration below is that it… Continue reading How does a writer work to develop authentic characters and deepen characterization, whether in fiction or memoir?
Genre-Jumping: From Poetry to Story
In Carson McCullers’ story, “A Tree, A Rock, A Cloud”, a man in a diner tells a young paper boy that his wife who has run off had been “like an assembly line for [his] soul.” At its most basic, writing is that for me. It is the thing that drives me, that has traveled… Continue reading Genre-Jumping: From Poetry to Story
Anya Achtenberg 