I wish I knew exactly who I was. I was talking to a friend earlier about the advice people give each other, advice like "just be yourself," and how t….
I want to be able to discuss craft but I also want to teach writers to trust their instincts and learn to listen to themselves above all others..
A story works when there's momentum, life behind the words. Some stories have this and others don't, and it's difficult to say why this is. If all st….
It's definitely about the rhythm of the words and how they sound together, writing one sentence and then another and another and cutting something im….
I haven't taught creative writing all that much (my CW teaching consists of a few summer workshops for elementary school children and an eight-week c….
Sometimes the way comes later, when I'm not working or thinking about it at all. When stories don't work, you try to convince yourself that all of th….
I've learned a lot about language from reading slush. You can immediately tell if a writer is in control of the narrative. This writer will avoid usi….
There were definitely scenes I struggled with more than others: the car accident and the thunderstorm are two that come to mind. It's difficult to wr….
Perhaps adding a line or two of dialogue to try to better capture an emotion. But I've found that if the story isn't there in the beginning, right fr….
To be quite honest, along with thinking and such when it comes to writing, I'm not into words like "theory." I'm a PhD dropout. No matter how many tw….
I don't revise a lot when writing short stories. As far as the novel, I definitely thought more about plot. Honestly, I'm still pretty confused about….
I try to think as little as possible, at least while working. I look at some of my early stories and can see the machination behind them, like a gear….
I also liked it when professors assigned us stories that they love. In general, I liked workshops more when they were more than just a workshop, when….
Some of the things I liked in my years as a student in workshops: the occasional in-class prompt; discussions about what it means to be a writer in t….
I've learned so much from my professors and have been fortunate to have had so many good ones, including Frederick and Steven Barthelme, Edward Carey….
I can't remember who said it - I think it was Allan Gurganus when he was visiting the Michener Center - but he told us to "spend [our] gold," meaning….
I don't know what people want, really. Does somebody have to die? What is meant by resolution? These are questions that I don't quite know what to do….
It's something that's difficult to explain but I think all writers work this way to some extent, whether we're aware of it or not. For me, writing ha….
"There is no analysis here," the most brutal of them wrote. Now I wonder if my papers lacked critical thought, or if it was really more about my inab….
Good writing, in my opinion, is writing that looks really easy, so easy that a person who has never written more than a grocery list might convince t….
There are many stories I've wanted to write that I'm simply not able to - sometimes I haven't found the way in yet, and it doesn't matter how hard I ….