I. Am. So. Dumb. Three semesters into a nonfiction MFA I’m still having things fall into place which I should have already figured out. Last semester I started kind of writing anything at all, since my word count was so low and I was still so unfocused with my thesis. One of the things I wrote about was going to […]
I sent a ranting email to my Goucher mentor about my feelings on categories of writing and how my brain is going to explode over the issue. God bless her – she told me to write stories. Basically write stories however. And I replied that that is exactly what I want to do. Phew. Now I can dig into my […]
I’ve been progressing through the semester but have kind of come to a point of confusion about my thesis. I know what I want to do; my instincts are telling me what to write about and in what genre, but I feel like I’m trying to force myself into a framework or paradigm or template of what I should be […]
It occurred to me – is there a way in writing to reproduce the effect of a movie score? For instance, the harmonica tune that floats through “Midnight Cowboy”; the movie wouldn’t be the same without that. It doesn’t really impact the plot. It enhances the viewer’s experience of the story. So is there a way to achieve the same […]
In my effort to write stories rather than just articles, I have taken to watching movies – the best movies, my favorites – to study what makes a good story. I haven’t yet deliberately taken notes, but I think I should start doing that. I rent movies on amazon.com, and most recently re-watched 127 Hours. I just finished re-watching Man […]
Okay, I confess. I have been hearing about and reading about the “narrative arc” for a while now and I still don’t know quite what it means. I think it’s like, you know, how a story starts, builds to a climax and then is resolved. I don’t know why it’s called an arc. I would think calling something a good […]
My first post-residency entry will be about my first assignment. There’s so much to say about my time at Goucher – what I did there (and didn’t do), whom I met, how the faculty was, and more. It will all come eventually, once I get my thoughts and work organized. But the first entry will be about my first assignment. […]
