Monthly Archive: May 2013

Writers Who See Clearly 0

writer reminders / Writing's distinct voice

Writers Who See Clearly

When the book you are reading is littered with sticky notes marking great images, you know you have a writer who sees clearly. Check out Peter Hessler, author of River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze. Through his ‘eyes’, I revisit Fuling, China, a city situated where the Wu River meets the Yangtze. “Fuling is not an easy city. Old people rest on the staircases, panting. To carry anything up the hills is backbreaking work and so the city is full of porters. They haul their loads on bamboo poles balanced across their shoulders, the same way freight was carried...

Details, Details, Details 1

details in writing

Details, Details, Details

What separates mediocre from good or great writing? Details. In the book,  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, the style is dated, but the details held me in the story. Betty Smith took the time to incorporate significant details related to the 1910-1915’s: money tied in the corner of handkerchiefs, carrying tin to be sold for precious pennies and reading the family Bible as a way to learn to read. In a more recent read of a current author, I felt let down. She told us what she saw instead of drawing us in with sensory details. True, her drama moved...

Inspiration from Others 0

musings

Inspiration from Others

“(My diary) became a friend, the paper that it was made of was ready and willing to accept anything and everything I had to say; it could handle my fear, my questions, my sadness. I discovered the beauty of writing – when one can pour oneself onto a great white emptiness and fill it with emotions and thoughts and leave them forever.”  written by Zlata Filipovic and shared in Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell) Passion for writing oozes from Zlata’s words. There are days I agree; when I can’t get words out fast enough. More often, however, my words...