Words to Write by

Enough with the theoretical, in this episode we get some practical advice out of Gardner's book, The Art of Fiction. Specifically, he tells us what we're doing wrong. We discuss a few of what Gardner call's clumsy errors before moving onto Faults of the Soul - Sentimentality, Frigidity, and Mannerisms.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

After last episode's mother of all chapters, we get a reprieve - a much shorter and  lighthearted chapter devoted to those weird genres of metafiction, deconstruction, and jazzing around (that last one we're pretty sure Gardner  made up.) While we do discuss Gardner's take, we mostly just have fun geeking out over our favorite examples of the genres. But, just when you think it's all congenial conversation, we come upon an eye-raising quote by Gardner, and once again, the knives come out.

For our exercise, Renee shifts her memoir into poetry and we discuss the results.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Moving along to Chapter 3 inThe Art of Fiction. 

We go to war over the  Gardner's dichotomies that (he claims) make for great fiction, his vehement distaste for experimental fiction -- what he calls "intellectual toys," and his idiosyncratic choice of Helen of Troy to illuminate the steps to writing a novel. Let's just say there's a lot of sacking, burning, and pillaging--and not just on Gardner's part--in this episode. Don't worry, no heels or cities were harmed in the recording of this episode.
 
For our exercise, Kim plots a realistic short story, beginning with the climax and working backward. 

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Onto Chapter 2 of John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction. 

We begin with Gardners’ opinions about grammar, and our opinions about those opinions, then we move on to his definition of genres and the great importance of “verisimilitude,” and, wrapping up the discussion, what Gardner thinks makes for a true artist writing great literature. For our exercise, 

Renee has described a landscape as seen by a bird, she did not mention the bird.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

We're starting our first book - John Gardner's The Art of Fiction.  Let's find out why writing instructors and blog keep recommending it to aspiring writers. We'll try to figure out what Gardner means by aesthetic law, if the literary cannon is worth a read, and we'll address the (male) elephantine in the room, er book. 

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.

Welcome to Words to Write by - a podcast where we discuss, chapter by chapter, those wonderful writing craft books purchased with the best of intentions but now gather dust on the bookshelf. No judgement! We’ve got our own bookshelves. Let’s tackle these books together and become the better writers we know we can be.

Remember, we have a Writers Process meetup every Tuesday. Check us out.