Alexander M. Zoltai's Blog, page 20
May 21, 2018
Mining Emotion to Bring History to Life by Andrea J. Loney
Read today’s instructive and fascinating re-blog and find out why the author says this:
“Once we take history into our own hearts and minds, it can become a part of us and a part of our own stories.”
For the past few years, I’ve spent one Saturday each month reading to second graders. We sit in a circle on the colorful classroom rug, share stories about our lives, read a picture book chosen by their teachers, share how the book relates to our own lives, and then we make crafts...
Yet More Conversation about Genre . . .
The previous posts in this conversation are Here and Here… [image error]
Those posts had comments that reflected various shades of discomfort with putting books in genre-boxes…
One of the comments, though, stood out by saying:
“A work’s genre is nothing more than a convenient handle to help the reader find his next read. I think of the genre as something useful, not confining at all.”
And, while I respect that viewpoint ( like I must, as a seasoned writer, respect readers’ oh, so various perspectives on...
May 19, 2018
Attaining Brevity
Excellent re-blog today! :-)
I’m all about brevity, and not just for Brevity. I’m ruthless with my editing clients’ work. In the big picture, asking if a scene is needed or a subplot is serving the story as a whole. Line by line, chopping words and phrases:
Driving in a car
That night I fell asleep in my bed and dreamed
He got out of his car, walked across the lot, and through the front door of the apartment building, where he pressed the elevator button for the ten...
May 18, 2018
Finding Poetry in Narrative Nonfiction
………
By Amanda Avutu
I was 21 and the worst kind of poet. By which I mean, I wore black dresses and had silver cat eye glasses. So, when a poet came to speak to my undergraduate poetry class about her novel, you can well imagine the twist my black knit stockings were in.
“How do you move back and forth between poetry and fiction??” I inquired during the Q & A session. It was not so much a question as an indictment.
Baseball players don’t play football! Ballerinas don’...
May 17, 2018
Friday Story Bazaar ~ Tale Ninety-One
Seeing Is Believing
by
Alexander M Zoltai
~~~~~~~~~
It was a pleasant village—about 600 meters up, on the leeward side, tucked into the mountain valley.
People lived there to get away from the overcrowded cities; and, to avoid detection…
In fact, there was no proper record of exactly who lived in the village.
Up a bit higher, tucked into ascending forest, was a clutch of buildings; and, armed guards in abundance surrounding them.
There was no way to know that those “gone missing” from the ove...
May 16, 2018
The Text Connections We Need to Be Making by Liz Garden
Read this important re-blog so you can finally arrive at these words:
“We might not feel like we can change what is happening in the world around us, but we are fortunate that we get to help mold future minds. And those future minds, they will be the ones to change our world. Go connect a child to a book today.”
:-)
I remember when I was in first grade; I spent more time in the school library than I did in my classroom. It’s true. My teacher, Mr. Page, would send me to read...
More Conversation About “Genre” . . .
[image error] My new “mode” of blogging isn’t all that old, so I’m very grateful the last post had as many comments as it did—when taking baby steps, a few more than none are to be treasured…
Plus, I recommend reading that first post in this particular conversation—Blog Conversation About “Genre” Writing . . .
What I’ll do this time is bring each comment into this post and follow it with my own ideas and feelings…
First one:
“I think ‘genre’ is a term fostered in modern times by publishers who found it ea...
May 15, 2018
Celebrating, Not Hiding by Emma Otheguy
Incredibly Important story in today’s re-blog………
I loved my third-grade classroom. I loved having my own cubby, and I thought it was a good coincidence that the top of my desk was the same color as oak tag, my favorite craft supply. There was a paper whale that wrapped around the walls, and there were class parties complete with brownies, cupcakes, and soda every holiday.
It should be a perfect memory: I’m incredibly lucky to have had this classroom, to have gone to a school...
May 14, 2018
Blog Conversation About “Genre” Writing . . .
Our last conversation was about “serious writing”, on May 2nd, 7th, and 9th… [image error]
It ended because the last post had no comments…
So, here I go again, starting up a new conversation :-)
I’ll begin with the word history of “Genre”:
1770, “particular style of art,” a French word in English (nativized from c. 1840), from French genre “kind, sort, style” (see gender (n.)). Used especially in French for “independent style.” In painting, as an adjective, “depicting scenes of ordinary life” (a domestic...
May 13, 2018
Crafting a light bulb: Are you writing a novel or a manifesto?
Much to ponder in today’s re-blog :-)
A few years ago, I was talking to a friend and a light bulb landed in my lap. Not a real one – that would have been weird – but an idea I couldn’t ignore. It was, a premise for the book I’m writing, whole as a nut.
The idea didn’t magically appear. It came after years of unearthing what on the surface seemed to be nothing at all. Until one day I understood a situation I could not ignore, asking to be written.
Here’s a thing: Sitting with an...
