Tag: Writing Advice

On Writing

I published my first stories while an undergrad. I learned the difference between ego and real confidence in my writing and ultimately I learned how to stand by my work even as I reimagined it, recreated it.

The Art of Being Overwhelmed

New MFA faculty member Sherri L. Smith talks about how to make writing a priority. “We writers are a shaky bunch, never happy when we aren’t writing, never sure if we are happy even when we are elbow deep in the work. But we need it. We cannot always be in the world without distilling it, and if we don’t put it on the page, it ferments and poisons us.”

And have you read… Guardians?

Guardians, the final installation in the young adult trilogy written by Susan Kim and Laurence Klavan, is coming out in paperback from HarperTeen later this month. TW:   What was the inspiration for the story?  Laurence and I watch a lot of old movies and had originally conceived of this as a kind of post-apocalyptic Western:… Continue reading And have you read… Guardians?

Contested Spaces

Kenny Fries, Goddard MFA faculty member living in Berlin, visits “Homosexualität_en” exhibit at the Deutsches Historisches Museum and the Schwules Museum: “I was reminded of how the word “homosexual” was used for the first time around the same time as the word “normal,” and how historically the issue of “cure” has pertained to both homosexuality and disability. I noted how there have been laws “outlawing” both homosexuality and disability, including the “ugly” laws in the United States, which made it illegal for disabled people to appear in public. Most of these laws were not repealed until the 1970s. Chicago’s 1911 ordinance that stated, “It is hereby prohibited for any person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated, or deformed in any way so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object to expose himself to public view,” was the last to be repealed, in 1974.”

Are We Not Everyone? The Writer as Siddhartha

Goddard MFAW faculty member Darrah Cloud confesses to reading Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, for the 11th time. “Last night, on the 71st anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, I put it down and binge-watched a television show on HBO called Master of None…”

Seeking Asylum: 100,000 Stories

You could say I lost my belief in our politicians. They all seemed like game show hosts to me. — “If I Ever Lose My Faith in You,” Sting I. Empathy and the Iliad I read an article this week, published four years ago in Scientific American, about how empathy had declined 40 percent among… Continue reading Seeking Asylum: 100,000 Stories

And have you read…Once You Go Back?

Goddard College faculty member Douglas Martin’s sixth book! The Writer interviewed him below: 1. What was the impetus for this book? I wanted to do something similar to what Anna Kavan had done in her book, Sleep Has His House. I also wanted to revisit the terrain of my first novel, pretending that one of… Continue reading And have you read…Once You Go Back?

On Aretha Franklin and the Art of Showing Up

By Julie Parent By now you’ve probably heard about the spectacular performance by Aretha Franklin at the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors which was telecast on December 29.  In tribute to one of the honorees that evening, singer and prolific songwriter Carole King, Ms. Franklin sang the song (co-written by King and the late Gerry Goffin)… Continue reading On Aretha Franklin and the Art of Showing Up

Post-Operative Depression, Inflammatory Cytokines… or Writer’s Block?

The operation was over, my gallbladder was out, and its massive infection had not killed me. I’d been free of physical pain for a week, and was days away from my “all-clear” follow-up check-in with my surgeon. My recovery, in other words, was well underway, and I ought to have been ecstatic to be free… Continue reading Post-Operative Depression, Inflammatory Cytokines… or Writer’s Block?

A Different Approach to Writing Annotations

By Patricia Connelly The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts–A Two-Part Blog At one of our group advising meetings during the June residency in Vermont, Deborah Brevoort suggested we all read one or two of the same works during the semester and annotate them at the same time. The idea was that… Continue reading A Different Approach to Writing Annotations

Confessions of a Playwright Cast as a Dramaturg (including a Glossary of Terms)

In the broadest sense, my lofty role at the theater where I serve as resident dramaturg is to protect the integrity of the art form. But day-to-day, I do research and read A LOT of plays. I’m also very involved with season planning, casting, production design conferences, and I develop and curate all the humanities… Continue reading Confessions of a Playwright Cast as a Dramaturg (including a Glossary of Terms)

Pele’s Fire, Write to the Core: A Glimpse Inside

By Heather Leah Huddleston A writer’s retreat on the Big Island of Hawaii may sound like a far-off dream, but now, it is a reality. Pele’s Fire: Write to the Core, a writer’s retreat at Kalani, a 120-acre retreat space located near the village of Pahoa, is taking place in April 2016. “…for me, the… Continue reading Pele’s Fire, Write to the Core: A Glimpse Inside

And have you read… Fox, Tooth, Heart?

John McManus’ new story collection, Fox Tooth Heart, was published by Sarabande Books earlier in November. This holiday week, The Writer decided to feature our interview with John and celebrate his latest book. Hooray x infinity! 1) What was the impetus for this book? Right now I’m about a month away from finishing a novel… Continue reading And have you read… Fox, Tooth, Heart?

Second Time Around: A Self-Interview

So, how does it feel to know that your 1999 memoir, Apples and Oranges: My Journey Through Sexual Identity, originally published by Houghton Mifflin, will be reissued by Seven Stories Press? Do you think this is a good moment for that to happen? It definitely feels good, but a little weird. Apples and Oranges is… Continue reading Second Time Around: A Self-Interview

Counting Pleasures

A few years ago I enrolled in a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course. It lasted for eight weeks, and included a daily hour of meditation homework, along with some other exercises. It did, actually, change my life. But that isn’t my point. For one of the exercises the members of the class had to… Continue reading Counting Pleasures

On Deadlines: I am not Anne Bean, either

My wonderful former advisor from Goddard College, Susan Kim, wrote an article on the alumni blog about deadlines. Susan Kim is a New York City television writer, playwright, teacher, and more. She has a zillion fascinating and important irons in the fire at any given time. And she gave me considered, wonderful feedback on the… Continue reading On Deadlines: I am not Anne Bean, either

Don’t Write?!?!

Rahna Reiko Rizzuto talks strategies to free yourself from the stranglehold our society’s consumer priorities may be having on your writing today on Hedgebrook’s blog: “I’ve been thinking a lot about being a writer in this world. Not about the need to raise our diverse voices, or to break down the barriers that keep too… Continue reading Don’t Write?!?!