Cheryl Snell's Blog, page 58
August 30, 2010
Composing a Poem
I was sitting on the bench by the lake on a sunny day, watching a clump of tiger lilies dip and bend toward the water. They look thirsty, I thought. Just then, a young man on a jog stopped, took off his shoes and stepped into the water. He cupped some of the lake in his hands and cooled himself off. As he began to climb out of the blue he noticed the flowers. He scowled at them, and kicked a spray in their direction.
Why would he do such a thing? And how could I describe it in a poem? I could...
Why would he do such a thing? And how could I describe it in a poem? I could...
August 29, 2010
August 26, 2010
Satin Doll
This story of mine has got Barbie dolls and a harmonica in it. Oh, why not?
August 24, 2010
Free Advice
Plunge directly into the story. Do not set the scene or back-story first. When we go to a play and the curtain rises, we don't see stage hands putting the props in place. The stage is already set. Likewise our opening paragraphs to the reader, the actors should immediately get on with it.
I have found that our opening chapter isn't necessarily the first one we write. It might only occur to us when the novel is completed.
Let our characters drive the story-telling via dialogue, interplay and dir...
I have found that our opening chapter isn't necessarily the first one we write. It might only occur to us when the novel is completed.
Let our characters drive the story-telling via dialogue, interplay and dir...
August 23, 2010
School Daze
The kids are trooping back to class, and I'm thinking of my own long-ago.
It was the late sixties and I was a piano major in a small Ohio conservatory. I was trying to wrap my hands around Chopin, Beethoven, and Mozart, and never thought to give pop music any love. Three chords! I was strictly long hair, and not the hippie kind.
My younger brother was also a pianist and had recently joined a band. They called themselves DKS (the initials of their last names, not some drug or political group, fy...
It was the late sixties and I was a piano major in a small Ohio conservatory. I was trying to wrap my hands around Chopin, Beethoven, and Mozart, and never thought to give pop music any love. Three chords! I was strictly long hair, and not the hippie kind.
My younger brother was also a pianist and had recently joined a band. They called themselves DKS (the initials of their last names, not some drug or political group, fy...
August 22, 2010
Poem with Radiometer
Four vanes pierced by a spindle,
a cotillion in black and white.
Moving in atmosphere lighter than air,
one searches out the other moving away.
As inside the glass, outside. You move slowly
through me, and light bounces from one skin
to the other, a kind of feint. To kick at the shadows
becomes a function of how we breathe.
But what muscles the endless spin?
Dark hides from light as light pursues it.
You knuckle your eyes in disbelief, saying it's dangerous
to stand this close to such a rapidly rot...
a cotillion in black and white.
Moving in atmosphere lighter than air,
one searches out the other moving away.
As inside the glass, outside. You move slowly
through me, and light bounces from one skin
to the other, a kind of feint. To kick at the shadows
becomes a function of how we breathe.
But what muscles the endless spin?
Dark hides from light as light pursues it.
You knuckle your eyes in disbelief, saying it's dangerous
to stand this close to such a rapidly rot...
August 21, 2010
Fictional Empathy
I came across an interesting question from Tayari Jones, asking if writing ever helps us get close to a type of character that we wouldn't ordinarily understand, let alone empathize with. I'd have to say Yes.
Developing empathy is a transformative act. My character Amma in Shiva's Arms was modeled on a traditional Hindu mother-in-law of an American "unsuitable bride." At first, I had only an incomplete understanding of the attitudes with which I used to construct her, but as I learned how to ...
Developing empathy is a transformative act. My character Amma in Shiva's Arms was modeled on a traditional Hindu mother-in-law of an American "unsuitable bride." At first, I had only an incomplete understanding of the attitudes with which I used to construct her, but as I learned how to ...
August 19, 2010
Indian Graphic Novels
In today's WaPost, there's an interesting article on the graphic book Bhimayana, about a leader of the Dalits. Artists Durgabai and Subash Vyam "may have revolutionized the format of the genre" by thinking and drawing outside the box.
