Place for the Stolen
Like that one guy said: Good writers borrow, great writers steal. Welcome to the place where all things have been lifted, looted, and otherwise pilfered…Remember, possession is 9/10s of the law.
Category: Writing Thoughts
Rewriting the Bard: Julius Caesar
Greek to me. After three months of working, I’ve finished the draft of the gender-reversed adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that I’ll be directing throughout October and November. (We open in December! If you’re in Colorado Springs, you need to come see this!)… Continue Reading “Rewriting the Bard: Julius Caesar”
Reading Over the Shoulder: A Thing I Wrote While Writing With Friends at Poor Richards
Writers are over-the-shoulder readers. If there is a writer sitting next to another writer, odds are that one or the other will look over their compatriot’s shoulder and peek. There are millions of reasons for this. First, most writers (the real ones) are readers.… Continue Reading “Reading Over the Shoulder: A Thing I Wrote While Writing With Friends at Poor Richards”
How Do First Chapters Work?
Rabih Alameddine’s novel I, the Divine is a novel told entirely in first chapters. As a reader, the whole-novel-as-first-chapter concept put me in an immediate state of: What do I have to follow here? (The answer is: Sarah’s life. It wasn’t as difficult a… Continue Reading “How Do First Chapters Work?”
Still Typing: A Tuesday Post of Accountability
Hello writer-friends. It’s Tuesday, which means that it’s time to be accountable…which I wasn’t last Tuesday. Quick reason for no posting last Tuesday: My grandmother died on March 31. It was rather an emotional week that manifested some strange things. The first of which… Continue Reading “Still Typing: A Tuesday Post of Accountability”
Spontaneous Prose: What it Looks Like
There’s a list Kerouac jotted down that is often copied. Called “Belief &Technique for Modern Prose,” it is thirty pieces of advice for writers who want to write spontaneously and Beat-like. A couple of my favorites tidbits: #1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten… Continue Reading “Spontaneous Prose: What it Looks Like”
Pop Buddhism
This weekend, I finished reading The Dharma Bums – the book that apparently started the Backpack Revolution. First, My Problem: As the title implies, there are a plethora of Eastern-religion references throughout Dharma Bums. My problem was, and remains, that I had the toughest… Continue Reading “Pop Buddhism”
Thursday Reviews!: Good Blonde and Others by Jack Kerouac (A Mentor Review!)
Good Blonde by Jack Kerouac My rating: 3 of 5 stars Best part about this book: The sections where Kerouac talks his writing style. There are two selection/chapters that cover this “spontaneous prose”: “The Essentials of Spontaneous Prose” and “Belief & Technique for Modern… Continue Reading “Thursday Reviews!: Good Blonde and Others by Jack Kerouac (A Mentor Review!)”
Adding Gravitas: Kerouac’s Word Choices
“Gravitas” is one of my husband’s million dollar words when he’s offering a critique. It’s a tricky word to digest when it’s thrown at you like: “This needs more gravitas.” He’s much more eloquent but, I mean, what can you do with that? Generally… Continue Reading “Adding Gravitas: Kerouac’s Word Choices”
A Fond Farewell to the Dame
Well, kids, that’s it for Agatha Christie. I hope that you found something interesting to use for your own work from this bestsellingest of authors. Stuff that I’ll take away: 1. You don’t have to be all organized in your notebooks. I know that… Continue Reading “A Fond Farewell to the Dame”
Tuesday Post of Accountability!
Okay, so I’ve decided to add in this as a new blog feature. I’ve been doing Random Posts of Accountability…but I realized that I only posted those when I had done something. (Was I gonna post about doing nothing? Don’t think so.) Now, every… Continue Reading “Tuesday Post of Accountability!”
Jenny Maloney
I write dark fiction that my mother hates. I also review mysteries for criminalelement.com. When not writing fiction/reviews, I'm creating plays at Springs Ensemble Theatre in Colorado Springs.
