Writers have an ongoing love affair with the prologue. You know, that chapter before a chapter inserted at the beginning of a book, intended to fill the reader in on important need-to-know info, so that he and the writer will be on the same page when they dive into the “real” beginning of the story. […]
December 29, 2007 by 7 Comments NewsBlogging Like a Writer
All right, pop quiz! Everybody, listen up, ‘cuz this promises to be important. Someone, please tell me what a blog is. (Yeah, I know, I should have warned you it’d be easy.) Next question: Who writes blogs? (That one’s little harder, you say? All right, I’ll tell you the answer.) Writers. Writers write blogs. (Ta-da! […]
December 17, 2007 by 15 Comments Beginning Your BookDostoevsky and the Art of In Medias Res
Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short novel The Gambler never reached the popularity and renown of his other works (Crime and Punishment, The Brothers Karamazov, and Notes From Underground, most notably), but it deserves a spotlight of its own for several reasons. The most notable reason is undeniably its stunning and incisive portrayal of gambling addiction. Dostoevsky, who […]
December 7, 2007 by 14 Comments CharactersWhat Dickens Can Teach Us About Complex Characters
In Our Mutual Friend , Charles Dickens’s final completed novel, he presents for us one of his most comprehensive and well-rounded tales. Herein is all the darkness of Hard Times, the cynicism of Martin Chuzzlewit, but also the optimism and hopefulness of David Copperfield and Nicholas Nickleby. G.K. Chesterton wrote of Our Mutual Friend that […]
