by Jamie Chavez | Mar 3, 2016 | The Writing Craft
Clutter is the disease of American writing. We are a society strangling in unnecessary words, circular constructions, pompous frills, and meaningless jargon. … But the secret of good writing is to strip every sentence to its cleanest components. Every word that serves...
by Jamie Chavez | Feb 27, 2016 | The Writing Craft
I’ve written some about finding your voice (there are links below). Many people have. And you’ll hear lots of different opinions … which makes it difficult for young or inexperienced writers to figure out. What is voice in writing? And how do you identify yours? It’s...
by Jamie Chavez | Feb 6, 2016 | The Writing Craft
When I started blogging, I quickly discovered there were some very good blog-writers out there—and sometimes I’d find an article that was so good, there was nothing meaningful I could add. I present those articles on my Short Saturdays. 🙂 This is definitely one of...
by Jamie Chavez | Feb 1, 2016 | Authors & Other Writers, The Writing Craft
I’d forgotten how much I enjoy Anne Tyler, “winner of the Pulitzer Prize” (in 1989 for Breathing Lessons) as the cover of my hardback copy says, conveniently leaving out a host of other prizes and details, including that her first college prof, Reynolds Price, once...
by Jamie Chavez | Jan 9, 2016 | The Writing Craft
I was doing a little research the other day and discovered this 2012 interview in the Guardian with Anne Tyler, who is, and has been, one of my favorite authors. It’s a good read, and I was caught by the description of her process: For a writer who is so protective of...
by Jamie Chavez | Dec 19, 2015 | The Writing Craft
I’ve written a lot about plot, trying over and over again to explain it in a way that will give you an a-ha moment. This excerpt—at Jane Friedman’s blog—from Paula Munier’s Writing with Quiet Hands gave me one of those moments. Narrative thrust is the taut building of...
