Category: General Writing

General Writing, Language and the Way of Words

How does a word mean? How do words apply for the job of speaking about the inexpressible? Can they do it? And, looking forward to the road of Spider

Anya Achtenberg

July 16, 2007 First, please check out Ethelbert Miller’s site http://www.eethelbertmiller.com and you can also see my contribution to his E-Notes at http://www.eethelbertmiller1.blogspot.com — thanks! Now, here is a different take on what we usually hear about the “unspeakable”, about unspeakable horrors, that cannot (must not?) be expressed in words. I was looking at a… Continue reading How does a word mean? How do words apply for the job of speaking about the inexpressible? Can they do it? And, looking forward to the road of Spider

General Writing, Travel, Voice

Memories of Censorship; Beyond the World of Your Story; and Who the Heck is in Charge Around Here, Anyway?

Anya Achtenberg

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?

General Writing, Narrators, Voice

Lyrical voice / narrative voice / character’s voice: Hints from Turkish music, one actress, and the power of travel

Anya Achtenberg

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