In the course of writing and editing any novel, a lot is cut. Numerous reasons lie behind the cutting. The material might be unnecessary or repetitive; the sentences may be lackluster or too showy; the writing might be downright boring. Often...
Where is the Kindness in Fiction?
I have always been a fiction writer at heart, but before I committed myself fully to fiction, I worked in film, writing screenplays and directing films, simultaneously teaching film production and screenwriting. It’s a cardinal rule in...
Adult Bibs, Evasive Mint: Creating Character Memes
My family of Boomers and Millennials is just concluding a week-long reunion. We have matured and ripened over the years so this recent gathering was rife with laughter and devoid of the tensions from gatherings in the past. The...
When (How) Does a Novel Become a Novel?
I began a new novel recently and, while I’ve been contemplating the idea for a while, I’ve had trouble feeling the project is gaining traction. I am questioning whether the idea has sufficient coherence and gravitas, along with the legs for me to...
I Never Intended to Write a Sequel
I never intended to write a sequel. I’ve always thought of my novels as one-offs, stories that may be open-ended at their conclusion, but still convey the sense on the last page that things are done. Sequels are for mystery writers and writers of...
How About/What If: A Tip for the Blocked or Timid Writer
When my son was in late elementary/early middle school, he and two of his best friends favored a gamed I call “How About,” because that was always the way the game began. “How about I’m king of the river and you’re trying to get across and I try...
Revisiting the Books of Childhood
In a recent flurry of bookshelf reorganizing, I came across the collection of books saved from my childhood. Alice in Wonderland, Wind in the Willows, A Wrinkle in Time, Half Magic, Stuart Little. Charlotte’s Web, The Secret Garden...
Playing with Punctuation
When my partner reads my fiction—he’s always my first reader—he invariably rolls his eyes. He doesn’t understand why I’m so stingy with commas. This has happened to us enough times that we merely laugh about it. I’ve been a punctuation rebel for...
Creating Art in Dark Times
Dear Friends, Readers, Sympathizers, Things are beginning to change. The election is finally over (mostly), and the doomsday outlook of the last few years is loosening its grip. Here in my neck of the woods the awareness of...
Beginning Again
I am just now, on the heels of the election, beginning to write a new novel. As often happens, several obsessions I’ve been nursing for a while, have suddenly come together as a narrative, as if they were charged magnets, needing to connect. It’s...