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…
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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…
Reflecting on Metaphor
Giving a Metaphor Space to “Breathe” and Related Considerations 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 saw her once Hop forty paces through the public street. And having lost her breath, she spoke, and panted,…
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…
What Can Metaphor Do for Us?
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 “I believe that metaphor alone can give a sort of eternity to style.” —Marcel Proust, Chroniques What can metaphor do for us? We should ask, in the same breath,…
Trying to Get It Right: The Aftermath of the Skirmish
The Craft of Fiction Writing By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Richard Wertime reflects on the Crafting of his story “Soccer,” published in WTP Vol. IX #3 “He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars.” —William Blake, Jerusalem: The Emanation of the Giant Albion James Joyce once confided to a friend, while…
Strategic Clutter and Decoys
And Other Fictional Strategies By WTP Writer Richard Wertime Richard Wertime reflects on the Crafting of his story “Soccer,” published in WTP Vol. IX #3 “Setting in fiction ought always veer toward metonymy.” —Novelist Richard Bausch In my short story, “Soccer,” published in April’s WTP, a mid-life father joins his teen son, Kevin, in an…
A Healing Game
Enjoy our WTP Spotlights, notable selections featuring artists and writers from our Woven Tale Press magazine. To read the issue in full subscribe and you can also register on our site to enjoy our archive. Richard Wertime is the author of Citadel on the Mountain: A Memoir of Father and Son (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), 2001 recipient of the…