by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 21, 2009 | details |
Okay, here’s the thing. I got carried away in my post about the detail hunt. When I started writing it, I just wanted to write about how hard it was to catch details and maybe generate a discussion about where all the good ones were hiding and how other people...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 17, 2009 | craft of writing, details, Pam Houston |
The more I think about Pam Houston’s writing advice (via Henry James), that a writer ought to strive to be “someone on whom nothing is lost,” the more I want to be aware of what is going on around me. A couple of weeks ago, in the interest of...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jul 15, 2009 | craft of writing, details, reviews |
When Mari Strachan was a little girl, she used to create pretend newspapers, carefully writing the stories in pencil, drawing a picture to go with them, and then sewing the pages together. She says, “I’ve always loved the physicality of books and paper and...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jul 13, 2009 | craft of writing, details, memoir, memory, reviews, shapes |
I don’t write memoir. But I like the way Abigail Thomas writes, the way she tells the truth. “My truth doesn’t travel in a straight line, it zigzags, detours, doubles back. Most truths I have to learn over and over again.” I got hooked on the...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Jun 24, 2009 | catching moments, details, shapes |
In January, I went to lunch with a friend. She asked what my “coolest” Christmas gift was. “My son gave me two Wilco CDs,” I said. “Which ones?” she asked. “I don’t know. I just put them on my ipod.” Are we losing our senses? Is the feel of life slipping away? Maybe...
by Cynthia Newberry Martin | May 22, 2009 | catching moments, craft of writing, Dani Shapiro, details, Pam Houston |
In the car yesterday, I was listening to the CD that came with The Writer’s Notebook. On it are two recordings. One was a discussion on character. On the panel were Ron Carlson, Dorothy Allison, and Dennis Johnson. There was no introduction; it just started....
