For the Love of Chapters
What I’m talking about instead are the ways in which chapters are not merely components of a narrative’s foundational architecture but also part of its aesthetic, i.e., more like those…
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craft
63 posts
In Search of Ideas
Writing requires ideas. The idea might even be the most important component of a story of novel, so finding good ideas is critical. But where do they come from? At…
The Rumpus Interview with Frederick Barthelme
Frederick Barthelme talks about his new novel, There Must Be Some Mistake, life after teaching, and why food from the Olive Garden is “execrable in the best possible way.”
The Rumpus Interview with Rebecca Makkai
Rebecca Makkai talks about ghosts, teaching, chronology in writing, and her new novel, The Hundred-Year House.
Like Writer, Like Character
Sometimes writers end up diagnosed with the very same disease they’ve inflicted on their characters. Natalie Serber knows firsthand—she received a breast cancer diagnosis halfway through creating Mona Brown, a…
Letting the Story Surprise You
As part of their series on the craft of non-fiction and the personal essay, Michael Steinberg discusses the struggles and surprises of writing his memoir in the Tri-Quarterly Review. As…
Finding Home
Growing up all over the place makes you skilled at adapting, but it also makes you hungry to belong, something that in part motivates my writing: carving out a space…
Too Many Words is Too Many Words
Watch this gorgeous video about the writing life of modern literary giant Haruki Murakami. Discover how he manages to seep into the minds of so many of his readers, creating…
On Writing the Personal Struggle
For me, the act of writing is all about getting rid of self-criticism, and at the same time I have an almost religious belief in literature. These two kingdoms are…
Details Inform Readers Beyond Fictional Reality
Fiction writing gains more than verisimilitude from the included details. Writing at Beyond the Margins, Nichole Bernier examines how a writer’s choice of details informs the reader about a great deal more…
To Outline Or Not To Outline
Are you like John Irving, who outlines his novels to the last detail? Or are you more like Flannery O’Connor, who works the story out through multiple drafts? There are…
Lectures I Will Never Give
My take on it is, we should be suspicious of everything that IS called a masterpiece.