Rebecca Klempner's Blog, page 7

More from Gardner’s On Moral Fiction

In my last post about On Moral Fiction, I went over the first couple chapters of the book. If you are lost by what follows, you can go back and read that post to catch up before continuing.

[image error]When someone hears the words “moral fiction,” or “moral art,” a person might wonder how to define morality. According to John Gardner, “moral” does not equal “not too blatantly immoral.” It can’t be simple, and it can’t be forced upon artists. Rather, morality voluntarily (p. 18):

“presents a valid model...

A Fun Editing Gig, almost Complete!!

(Yeah, yeah, yeah…I know, I missed my Wednesday post. But here I am, making it up to you just one day late.)

I thought I’d share a little bit about one of my editing gigs, which is just about wrapped up now. I’ve been consulting with Ganit and Adir Levy about their upcoming picture book, What Should Danny Do?

The Levys came to me several months back with a rough draft of their picture book. At the initial consultation, I gave them a list of changes to make and issues to address. They had a l...

What I’m Reading Right Now: On Moral Fiction

A while back, Erika Dreifus had recommended John Gardner’s On Moral Fiction, a slim volume dedicated to writing and literary criticism from the POV that an artist has a moral responsibility to their audience, and that art criticism should in part address how well the creator of a work of art has met that responsibility. The book dates from 1978, and it’s amazing how well it (thus far in my reading) stands up over time.

I’m only about three chapters in, and what strikes me most is how similar...

The Desire to Write a Sequel vs the Desire to Write a Story

I already posted once this week, so I’ll probably keep this one short, but I wanted to make sure I do my new little Wednesday thang so I don’t lose my groove.

I mentioned in my last post that while reviewing the proofs of my soon-to-be published middle-grade novel, I had an impulse to write a sequel. You know that old tune sung by Marlene Deitrich, “Falling in Love Again?” That’s how I felt about my characters on this weekend’s run-through. I kinda thought I was done with that phase of my wri...

Glixman in a Fix on Approach: Got the Cover for My Next Book & Checked the Proofs

[image error]Yesterday, I turned in my comments on the proof for my next book, the novelization of Glixman in a Fix. It’s weird reading something I wrote a couple years ago, already. I think the manuscript is in pretty good shape. We’re IY”H expecting the book to hit stores just before Pesach.

The good news is that I made myself laugh more than once, and I still find the characters charming after all this time. When I read the last page, I contemplated writing a sequel just so I could hang out a little lo...

Writing Groups Run for Pay Are Useful…But Not the Same as No-Fee Writing Groups

After last week’s post, in which I explained how to set up and run writing critique groups and manuscript swaps, I got some feedback, and I’d like to address one of the issues that came up.

What to expect if you pay for a professionally-led writing group:

There are many writers/editors, who run critique groups for a fee – and I am among them. Usually, the organizer will do at least some of the recruitment for you, and they have genuine expertise. (Although I suggest you check on this – recent...

Step-by-Step Guide to Setting up a Writing Critique Group or a Manuscript Swap

A little birdie told me what to write about this week.

Okay, I’m exaggerating. But recently, quite a few people have either asked me how to advance their writing skills (answer: join a critique group) or how to arrange a critique group or what they should do if they cannot attend a critique group. And while I’ve discussed critique groups on the blog before, I think it’s worth a new blog post dedicated to this topic, because I’ve been helping run critique groups for nearly five (or is it six?)...

Whoops! Missed my Wednesday post.

Ack! I’ve been trying to post weekly on Wednesdays, and I completely spaced this week. (I’ve got a good excuse – all my kids are on vacation.) Anyway, I’m taking a moment to write something now, before Shabbos, to make sure I stay in the groove.

I struggled to make a writing deadline last Friday and actually missed it, in the end. This is very unusual for me. I rarely experience writer’s block, but here it was and I was feeling very, very low.

I finally finished the story and turned it in on...

The Merits of Perseverance

So, I’m 11 minutes late, but I’m posting today, third Wednesday straight. Hooray, me!

I got home late from my Wednesday night writing group, but I decided not to give up. I can do this thing!

So much about writing is about soldiering on. I’m going to give you three quick examples.

A month and a half ago, I pulled an old, long-abandoned piece of flash fiction out of a drawer to share at my Tuesday writing group. We worked on it, and I got some more feedback from my Wednesday writing buddies,...

A Copyeditor’s Rant

During my disappearance from this blog, I spent a lot of my time proofreading, editing, and copyediting.

First, while people tend to use the terms interchangeably:

A proofreader checks text for syntax, spelling, punctuation, and other similar errors and corrects them. An editor may do the above, but also will consider the content of the piece, the order of sentences, meaning, style, how the author addresses the audience, and other, deeper issues. A copyeditor deals with text intended for pu...