Writing Craft Books: The Importance of Gathering & Honing Your Tools

Reminder: My upcoming 3-in-90 workshops early bird special expires TODAY!

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“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” ~Dorothy Parker

“Without craftsmanship, inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.” ~Johannes Brahms

Today’s newsletter goes out to all subscribers. Hi! Today, I’d like to look at some bits of wisdom from three of my favorite craft books. I’ll also provide three prompts inspired by, or drawn from, those craft books. As much as I teach and encourage wildness and experimentation, I believe writers ignore craft at their peril, like attempting to build a house without a hammer or nails. I have a whole bookcase full of craft books and like to highlight some here now and then. Hope you enjoy!

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Just a quick reminder, today is the FINAL DAY to take advantage of the early bird special for my upcoming round of 3-in-90 workshops, so if you’re keep to join us, do go ahead and register! The deal: All THREE 90 minute workshops (individually priced at $65) for $125 PLUS a FREE bonus revision workshop with Steve Chang and Autumn Watts of Lit Match Collective! My workshops have resulted in many published, awarded, and anthologized stories for the hundreds of writers who have taken part! NOTE: All sessions will be recorded and all registrants receive lifetime access to the recordings.

“Originality of Language, Form, and Content: A 3 in 90 Workshop Series” is a three-part series of 90-minute workshops offering a concentrated immersion into originality across craft, encouraging writers to take risks, experiment boldly, and generate new work. While each session can be taken independently, the series as a whole provides a layered, cumulative experience that deepens the overall freshness and verve of your writing.

Session 1 (Sat., Jan. 24th, 1:00-2:30 pm Eastern): Originality of Language — Voice, Music, Risk

Session 2 (Sat., Feb. 21st, 1:00-2:30 pm Eastern): Originality of Form — Invention, Innovation, Play

Session 3 (Sat., March 21st, 1:00-2:30 pm Eastern): Originality of Content — Tapping into Your Inner Wild

Find more detailed information about the workshops by clicking the button below:

RULES OF THUMB: 73 Authors Reveal Their Fiction Writing Fixations, edited by Michael Martone and Susan Neville, 2006, Writers Digest Books

Friends, I adore this book. It is charmingly illustrated and beautifully edited. Each chapter is quick, funny, entertaining, and informative. One of my favorites is the chapter, “Dixon’s Rules,” by Stephen Dixon, who wrote one of my favorite flashes, ever: “Wife in Reverse,” published in Matchbook Lit, a flash I just can’t seem to shut up about.

“Never use the word soul in a piece of prose that refers to the animating and vital principle in human beings, credited with the faculties of thought, action, and emotion, and often conceived of as an immaterial entity.” ~Stephen Dixon

YOUR PROMPT

Let’s defy Stephen Dixon’s tongue-in-cheek advice and write a flash with the word soul in it. Put the word soul in the title. Or have a character named Mr. Soul. Make that character a dog or a parakeet or an easy chair. Write to the tender soul of this silly exercise. I believe Dixon’s real point to his essay, which is all things not to do, topics not to write about, words never to use, etc., is actually: Write whatever the hell you want. At any rate, that’s my advice. You may take inspiration for this prompt from Mr. James Joyce:

“His soul swooned slowly as he heard the snow falling faintly through the universe and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead.”

The 3 A.M. Epiphany: Uncommon Writing Exercises that Transform Your Fiction by Brian Kiteley, 2005, Writers Digest Books.

This book is mainly a collection of writing prompts around particular aspects of craft or storytelling. It’s a wonderful tool for teaching one’s self in a very straightforward fashion, basically a textbook / workbook. You really feel like you’re learning as you go, and it might be a fun one for a small group of writers to work through together.

My favorite exercises are contained in the chapter, “Characters and Ways of Seeing.”

“On the level of technique, it is your job as a writer to know the minds, life stories, and thoughts of everyone in your stories—even though the vast majority of this material will never reach the page.” (think: Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory)

YOUR PROMPT

Absent (this one seems really fun to me, though I’m not sure I’ve ever tried it):

“Construct a character who is not present, who is offstage for the entire piece. People can talk about this character before meeting him, or after meeting her; you might choose to examine what this character owns, how he lives, and under what conditions; you might use indirect approaches, like letters or documents that attest to the existence but not the presence of the person.”

Gotham Writers’ Workshop - Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide from New York’s Acclaimed Creative Writing School, 2003, Bloomsbury

Like 3 AM Epiphany, this is a book meant to be worked through, rather than just read. There are terrific (and challenging) writing exercises at the end of each chapter. I flipped through to find the chapter with the most underlines and marginalia and exclamation marks and it was “Description: To Picture in Words” by Chris Lombardi.

“For the purposes of storytelling, description is anything that creates a picture in the reader’s mind. If the descriptions are good enough, the reader will forget about the rain outside his window, the fact that her chair is a little uncomfortable, the fact that the rent is due. The reader will be swept along by the words, believing every moment of the story, as if it’s a dream or a movie, or as if it were actually happening.”

YOUR PROMPT

Photo by Martin Dalsgaard on Unsplash

Walk a character through a house, describing from that character’s point of view as you go from room to room. Be rich and specific in your details. Feel free to use the image above if it sparks something for you.

A few things to consider: The house may be abandoned or lived in. The house may be the character’s childhood home. It may be a home he is inspecting for purchase. Maybe your character has sold this house and is walking through it for the last time. Again, note the character’s POV and emotion as they’re walking through. That will color their perception, giving your descriptions more complexity and heft. Houses are prevalent in dreams. Consider writing this as a dream, playing with symbolism.

Take your time and really see the house. Smell it. If a flashback presents itself, go ahead and write it. This exercise may very well result in a complete draft.

Have a good week, friends. Stay strong,

Kathy