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How We Spend Our Days: Dan Chaon

How We Spend Our Days: Dan Chaon

by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Dec 1, 2012 | How We Spend Our Days | 9 comments

Annie Dillard wrote, “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” On the first of each month, Catching Days hosts a guest writer in the series, “How We Spend Our Days.” Today, please welcome writer Dan Chaon: You know those movies that start with an...
the next writer in the series: december 1, 2012

the next writer in the series: december 1, 2012

by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Nov 8, 2012 | about the current writer, How We Spend Our Days | 3 comments

In  The Writing Life, Annie Dillard wrote, I have been looking into schedules. Even when we read physics, we inquire of each least particle, What then shall I do this morning? How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and...
await your reply 5: parceling out your life

await your reply 5: parceling out your life

by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 19, 2011 | accumulation, catching moments, continuous life, life, the day, time | 7 comments

And you wipe the snow out of your hair and get back into your car and drive off toward an accumulation of the usual daily stuff–there is dinner to be made and laundry to be done and helping the kids with their homework and watching television on the couch with...
await your reply 4: image

await your reply 4: image

by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 18, 2011 | craft of writing | 8 comments

From Dan Chaon’s Await Your Reply, how an image can make words come alive: Without the image: Her thoughts were not clearly articulated in her mind, but she could feel them moving swiftly, gathering. “What are you thinking about?” George Orson said,...
await your reply 3: repetition with new detail

await your reply 3: repetition with new detail

by Cynthia Newberry Martin | Aug 17, 2011 | craft of writing, details, novels | 2 comments

In Await Your Reply, published in 2009, Dan Chaon uses repetition in a very cool way. Instead of bogging down the original scene, he pushes the action forward first, then a bit later, moves in for a close-up or two, adding additional details. For example, on page 246,...
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