tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post1020719405779079907..comments2024-03-19T07:10:21.430-04:00Comments on Girlfriends Book Club: How I Learned to Be a WriterWriter Wenchhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16730769794553260336noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-68672682380087928732016-08-18T15:01:32.626-04:002016-08-18T15:01:32.626-04:00Surely pretty important for the students to try ev...Surely pretty important for the students to try every possible fact as have been mentioned here with sufficient details. resume typing servicehttp://www.retype.biz/professional-typing-services/best-resume-typing-service/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-7563689361035711362011-09-04T12:08:37.572-04:002011-09-04T12:08:37.572-04:00Ernessa, we did that, too! I confess that even no...Ernessa, we did that, too! I confess that even now sometimes at dinner my head will tilt and my husband just knows I'm listening to conversations. Have gotten some good lines that way! Never threw Tennessee Williams into the mix. That must have been wild. Like you, I try and bone up through workshops or classes, but that usually depends on how much extra cash we have floating around.:) My friend did his MFA *after* he'd published 4 novels and wrote out in Hollywood for years, on various television series. He always said, "Never too old to learn new tricks." I agree.Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-29547964225098512012011-09-03T17:00:00.804-04:002011-09-03T17:00:00.804-04:00Oh Sandra, I really loved this post. My MFA head h...Oh Sandra, I really loved this post. My MFA head had a great exercise re: copying other writers. We had to record a real life convo, word for word. Transcribe it. Have it read by actors. Then we had to rewrite it in the style of Tennessee Williams. Have it read by actors. Then we had to rewrite it in the style of two other playwrights who I'm blanking on. Have it read by actors. THEN we finally got to rewrite it in our own style. I still get compliments on the way I write dialogue. All him. <br /><br />Also, I take at least 2-3 writing classes a year and I'm shocked by how I always come away with something new. <br /><br />But my greatest ability by far is to take most notes, but make hard, strong, fast decisions about the ones I won't take. Working in radio taught me that. You don't fight with the talent or your producer unless it's really, really worth it.Ernessa T. Carterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17765310225042942524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-13057379288381291722011-09-03T10:26:13.747-04:002011-09-03T10:26:13.747-04:00Avital! I don't know what's wrong with it...Avital! I don't know what's wrong with it. I guess he thought it was cliche. It came from my first story attempt with him, a piece called "Love in the Time of Neanderthals" (ha). I'd like to say that there's so much sex in my forthcoming collection not because I am sexually deviant and illegal in 13 states down south, but because I was trying to write better sex scenes after being so embarrassed over this remark on 'cupping'.<br /><br />That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-55439574960056097602011-09-02T21:21:50.078-04:002011-09-02T21:21:50.078-04:00What's so wrong with "cupping breasts?&qu...What's so wrong with "cupping breasts?" What if he actually cupped them? And they just fit in, you know. Oh well. <br />Enjoyed reading this, and I admire the initiative of copying stories. xoAvital Gad-Cykmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16462533584127117221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-68730058553362694202011-09-02T20:32:48.612-04:002011-09-02T20:32:48.612-04:00Marilyn,
Agreed. We are on that line every singl...Marilyn,<br /><br />Agreed. We are on that line every single day. Balance, I guess. Acrobatics. I'm glad the post served as a reminder. It's really *great* to be here, on the blog, with such great ladies. :) Niceness can be hard to come by, but it abounds here. So thank you.Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-31802534864457160002011-09-02T18:37:56.699-04:002011-09-02T18:37:56.699-04:00Sandra, I *loved* this post! I literally laughed a...Sandra, I *loved* this post! I literally laughed aloud when I read your #3, but all four of them are points I appreciated seeing today. We're in a crazy-hard industry. Sigh. And you're so right -- there's this fine line we walk all the time between being open and willing to learning/growing as far as writing craft vs. just believing in what we're doing and not listening to any of the negative talk out there. Thanks so much for this reminder ;).Marilyn Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05303846770348840645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-33257376270091153242011-09-01T14:55:46.471-04:002011-09-01T14:55:46.471-04:00Michele,
I totally get that. Sometimes I know I c...Michele,<br />I totally get that. Sometimes I know I come off as edgy and irritated, but that F-you attitude is really the least we can do to give us a little bit of a shell and protection. And we need it. And I totally agree with you: You need that attitude through a bunch of stages in writing, not just after a book is out. <br /><br />As for advisers: You made me laugh! Yeah. Mine was a real whip cracker. And I *still* remember some of his more severe criticisms of my work (From DG: "This is the worst sex scene I've ever read in my life, Sandy. I mean, 'cupping her breasts'? C'MON!" and "Maybe you could send out to a journal, sure, if you wrote a good story, or even a good sentence," and "When YOU can write a story that gets in The New Yorker, then you can criticize the stories in The New Yorker. Until then, just be quiet and learn.") Ha, ha! He was really usually right.Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-60652587403279204692011-09-01T14:30:24.040-04:002011-09-01T14:30:24.040-04:00I love this!!!!! Especially the "fuck you at...I love this!!!!! Especially the "fuck you attitude". It reminded me of how hard two MFA professors were on me. Every word was circled. Comments abounded. It took me a while to realize that they were doing this because they had faith in me. They pushed me so hard. Sometimes I cried, but then I said, "Fuck you," in my head and kept on writing. When the rejections poured forth for my first novel, hundreds upon hundreds of agent rejections, A to Z in the 2004 Writer's Market, I thought, "Fuck YOU!" but then I revised and kept at it. Not to mention, an early teacher of English, wrote the word FUCK on the board the first day of class and asked us, "Why is this word so powerful?" The hard consonant sounds say everything. I love all you fellow writers. Thanks again for a great post.Michele Young-Stonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08951960023052093900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-68709952742829187922011-09-01T14:25:12.707-04:002011-09-01T14:25:12.707-04:00"It's always at least interesting hearing..."It's always at least interesting hearing what other people think, because as I always say, I don't have enough anxiety in my life. No, really." <br /><br />Ha ha ha! Oh, Sandy, you just made my day! ;-)Susan McBridehttp://susanmcbride.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-58706039692653078542011-09-01T14:08:14.162-04:002011-09-01T14:08:14.162-04:00Oh, Susan. I am so there with you! I just got a ...Oh, Susan. I am so there with you! I just got a great review for the collection but had one stinker one, too--my first bad review ever. And I was just so in that Zen place. So very VERY in that F-ing Zen place! Ha! :) Oh well. It's always at least interesting hearing what other people think, because as I always say, I don't have enough anxiety in my life. No, really.Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-58622372991718921482011-09-01T14:03:25.639-04:002011-09-01T14:03:25.639-04:00Christa,
Yes, I've read Francine Prose's ...Christa,<br /><br />Yes, I've read Francine Prose's book (plus she's also on my agent's list, so I'm a general fan of her and her work). LOVED IT. And that's a great way to get students away from the "See Spot run" mentality with rhythm and sentence structure. I used to use another exercise in my creative writing class, which was to create a 1-3 page story using ONLY one syllable words, yet have the sentences vary enough so that the work didn't sound monotonous. I think that exercise is in Pamela Painter's book WHAT IF (another great read). As for Carver: I am such a fan of his, but agree with you about the train wreck aspect of his stories. I believe I've read all of his works, despite this. There was a time I just couldn't get enough of him. One of the saddest days ever, when I finished his last book and realized I'd never read a new story by him. :(Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-69198976764894948662011-09-01T13:56:06.647-04:002011-09-01T13:56:06.647-04:00Wendy: It's more of an 'edgy Zen' I g...Wendy: It's more of an 'edgy Zen' I guess, but it works for me! :)Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-39338546626076379022011-09-01T12:48:26.200-04:002011-09-01T12:48:26.200-04:00Sandy, I'm laughing as I read #3 because I rea...Sandy, I'm laughing as I read #3 because I really, really need to find my FU Zen attitude right now with LBD out (after some of the more, er, interesting reviews). Wonderful post!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />SusanSusan McBridehttp://susanmcbride.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-36645836697441517762011-09-01T11:09:14.310-04:002011-09-01T11:09:14.310-04:00I'm going to use #3 in my life as well as my w...I'm going to use #3 in my life as well as my writing. Great philosophy.<br /><br />Carver's stories...forgot about those until you mentioned his name. Those stories are like passing a train wreck, disturbing-but I just couldn't tear myself away from them.<br /><br />And, in my other life as an English teacher (on a good day), I have my AP students copy sentences as a way to tug them away from what I call "machine gun" prose: See Spot. See Spot run.<br /><br />Have you read Francine Prose's (she had to be a writer with that name): Reading Like a Writer?<br />The intro worth the price of the book.Christa Allanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12620389675433700944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-62689448115892563982011-09-01T10:45:00.138-04:002011-09-01T10:45:00.138-04:00Thanks for a great post, Sandra, and a reminder of...Thanks for a great post, Sandra, and a reminder of what can be a very useful exercise in a writer's arsenal! And I love how a "fuck you" can be considered Zen. :-)Wendy Tokunagahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03529294803049232598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-20931629436199611862011-09-01T09:29:15.963-04:002011-09-01T09:29:15.963-04:00Karin:
I am always mimicking writers I love, even...Karin:<br /><br />I am always mimicking writers I love, even now. I haven't copied word for word in a while, but it's always instructive!Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-68142555643229080892011-09-01T09:26:46.787-04:002011-09-01T09:26:46.787-04:00(Sorry, deleted above comment. Didn't realize...(Sorry, deleted above comment. Didn't realize I was still signed in on that account and not my own!)<br /><br />Kelsey: Three was always hard for me to learn, too. Even now I'm always surprised how rocked my world can become if someone HATES my work. I try and stay off Goodreads, try not to read nasty reviews. And when an aunt or someone tells me that my book was too 'open-ended' at the end, or had too much sex, or was too much of a 'downer', I just sit back and say, "Well, when you write your own book you can write it the way YOU want." Smile, smile. (It is hard to smile sometimes!) Oddly enough I can't handle compliments and praise, either, so I am doubly screwed. :)Sandra Novackhttp://blahblahblahwriter.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-80451037509183744082011-09-01T09:23:43.500-04:002011-09-01T09:23:43.500-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Writer Wenchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16730769794553260336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-64098815408074064392011-09-01T08:59:02.386-04:002011-09-01T08:59:02.386-04:00I especially love item three, just because I'v...I especially love item three, just because I've learned this recently. Sometimes you should make the changes and sometimes you should follow your heart.<br /><br />Great post!<br /><br />Kelsey<br />www.kelseysutton.blogspot.comKelseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02847967072513793874noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2037419790609319671.post-53030584452896731072011-09-01T08:08:11.599-04:002011-09-01T08:08:11.599-04:00This is a wonderful post, Sandra, I've often b...This is a wonderful post, Sandra, I've often been tempted to copy word for word some of my favorite<br />authors. Now you've inspired me to do just that. Thanks!Karin Gillespiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13526466399023966816noreply@blogger.com