If you are a published writer, no matter how crappy you are, people will automatically assume that you know Faulkner by heart. Even if you specialize in YA novels, you will be expected to have intelligent opinions on Proust and Joyce. Of course all writers are supposed to be able to quote at least a few … Continue reading Read, Read, Read
Tag: fiction
Do you have to understand every word?
When Joseph Conrad's Nostromo was first published in 1904, many of the words used in the text must have been unfamiliar to the general public. The common folk of the neighborhood, peons of the estancias, vaqueros of the seaboard plains, tame Indians coming miles to market with a bundle of sugar-cane or a basket of maize worth … Continue reading Do you have to understand every word?
Why You Cannot Write Better Than E.L. James
Like it or not, the phenomenal sales of the Fifty Shades of Grey series will forever change our perception of literary success. Although the series have sold over 100 million copies world wide, not a single book critic I can find could see any merit in the writing. Numerous reviewers have trashed the story and … Continue reading Why You Cannot Write Better Than E.L. James
Write Not What You Are Not
An intriguing story by Susan Barker appeared on the pages of The Los Angeles Review of Books titled "Should Ethnicity Limit What a Fiction Writer Can Write?". The article relates the authors experiences of a recent book tour she made in China after publishing her book The Incarnations set in modern China. The author is … Continue reading Write Not What You Are Not
Joyce Maynard vs James Patterson
In the cult movie The Decline of the American Empire, a young intellectual confesses he has sexual fantasies about sleeping with Susan Sontag. The movie was released in 1986, so Susan Sontag was about 53 years young. Times were different then. Men in their early twenties having fantasies about sex with fifty-something writers was considered … Continue reading Joyce Maynard vs James Patterson
To NaNoWriMo or Not to NaNoWriMo?
I have learned the existence of the National Novel Writing Month only recently. When I was a young man in my mid-twenties with aspirations of being a published novelist, an institution like NaNoWriMo was unthinkable. It is pretty much unthinkable today, even though it exists. Who would have imagined? NaNoWriMo is a strange institution for … Continue reading To NaNoWriMo or Not to NaNoWriMo?
How do I know I’m a writer?
The beautiful Jenna Moreci, a budding writer who has a YouTube vlog in which she offers writing advice for other aspiring writers, says she is often asked by her followers "How do I know I'm a writer?" Questions like this (and many others) tell you how much her followers admire her. But she seems to … Continue reading How do I know I’m a writer?
Kurosawa’s Samurais
Toshiro Mifune was an aerial photographer for the Japanese Imperial Army, where he saw numerous eighteen-year-old conscripts fly off on kamikaze missions, an experience that gave him a lifelong hatred of the war. Later in his career, when he was typecast as an Imperial military officer, he was asked in an interview what he personally … Continue reading Kurosawa’s Samurais
Writing Exercise 1
I have not read Fifty Shades of Grey because it has been reported that the lousy prose is contagious. Zoe Williams of the Guardian wrote in her review of E. L. James’ trilogy “Goddammit. I've been infected by James's ominous, staccato delivery. After 1,600 pages of the stuff, you will too. I'm doing it again. … Continue reading Writing Exercise 1
Where are the samurai stories?
It is very difficult to find good, new samurai fiction in the English language, or any Japanese fiction for that matter. If you look for a list of best samurai fiction, or historical novels, on Goodreads, you will find Shogun by James Clavell (published 1975), Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa (1939), Taiko by the same author … Continue reading Where are the samurai stories?
Samurai Novelist 