Part One By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes “That afternoon nothing new came to Thea Kronborg, no enlightenment, no inspiration. She merely came into full possession of things she had been refining and perfecting for so long.”…
Tag: on writing
‘Weighing in’ on Others
In Life, and in our Reading By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes “Well, I never really did think much of him, y’know.” (Generic line of dialogue) In literature at large, it serves as staple and lubricant, and…
Exiting our Characters: When Last We Saw (or Heard of) Them
Guiding Your Reader’s Eye: The Choreography of Perception, Part Four By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes Read Part One, Part Two, and Part Three “Well, good-by,” said Alan, and held out his left hand. “Good-by,” said I, and…
Assemble the Gang!
Guiding Your Reader’s Eye: The Choreography of Perception, Part Three By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes Read Part One and Part Two ~ An especially enticing expository challenge occurs for us as writers when we open a story…
On Writing
A Translation By Abdón Ubidia Translated from Spanish by Nathan D. Horowitz Excerpted from a longer essay, “50 sombras de un escritor.” The writer should obey only his own poetic animal. Find yours. Search even the stupidest places in your heart. If something in your writing sounds wrong to you, it will sound even worse…
Writing Effective Dialogue
Some Additional Suggestions By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes What is it in fiction that yields the most compelling dialogue? The creation of characters who achieve for us, as readers, an unparalleled distinctiveness, a certain something in…
Writing Dialogue: Errors to Steer Clear of
(and Some Principles to Bear in Mind) By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes Let’s begin by remembering— Effective dialogue in fiction is a created artifact; it is not a mere transcription of “things actually said.” Our “go-to”…
What Are They Talking About?
“Listening in” and Playing Catch-up: Writing (and Reading) Dialogue By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes “I mean, like—y’know?…” It’s not fresh news to any writer of experience that readers of fiction are forever playing “catch-up.” Suspense—again, grounded,…
Whom to Doubt? What to Trust?
The Peculiar, Unwritten “Etiquette” of Speaking By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes “To be, or not to be—that is the question.” (Hamlet, Act III, scene i, line 66) Erving Goffman offers us a marvelous distinction in the…
Smoothing the Way
Modulating Between Direct and Indirect Discourse By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes In the previous craft note, “Writing Dialogue: The Hidden Art in Plain View,” we explored the tonal qualities separating direct from indirect discourse, and as…
Being "Walled to a Stop"
Disorientation and the Experience of Wonder* By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes “We came up over the crest and were walled to a stop.” “Walled to a stop.” So Ivan Doig begins his powerful evocation of that…
What Metaphor Can Do For Us
Part Two By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Woven Tale Press writer Richard Wertime reflects on the craft of fiction in an ongoing series of craft notes Read Part 1, “What Can Metaphor Do For Us?“ ~ On what basis does Proust argue that “metaphor alone can give a sort of eternity to style”? Let’s…