At the AWP meeting in DC one theme I heard over and over is how…well, how to put this the right way…how dangerous it can be for a teacher to impose “either-or” ideas of what appropriate creative writing is, and…
Tag Archive for craft
Paris Review releases complete interview series
by Michael Jackman • • 0 Comments
The new editor of the Paris Review, Lorin Stein, has released for no charge every single Paris Review interview with authors, dating back to 1953. The PR “Art of…” interviews remain one of the highest quality, deepest, and most informative…
No rules for paragraphs
by Michael Jackman • • 1 Comment
You, who end up teaching writing to elementary and secondary students, get taught a lot of silly things about writing, and these myths persist and mess up teaching of good writing ability. One of these persistent myths is that a…
Bring back the “intrusive narrator”
by Michael Jackman • • 0 Comments
Writers, it’s worth considering that the invisible narrator is getting tiresome in fiction and an intrusive voice might be just the thing to reinvigorate the fiction reading experience. The convention of the proper third person narrator in contemporary fiction is…
exercise: tapping your creativity
by Michael Jackman • • 0 Comments
Thought I’d share with you all one of the WWP exercises, as a preview of what we do here. Feel free to try it. Thank you Rachel, for uploading the phone pic of what I drew on the board. Association…
genre writing
by Michael Jackman • • 0 Comments
I teach many writers interested in genres such as mystery, fantasy, and vampire stories. When critiquing their drafts I often find myself saying, “imitate the best of the genre, not the worst of it.” For example, let’s take detective stories.…
What’s a WWP meeting like?
by Michael Jackman • • 0 Comments
Even though each meeting follows a familiar, effective format of meet ‘n eat, craft discussion, and professional workshop, with up to 10 lively authors in a room (plus me), each meeting will have its own tone and theme. For example,…