Writing

by David Benjamin   MADISON, Wis.— Since I was never admitted—nor did I seek admission—to a prestigious university creative-writing program, I don’t know if the students in these curricula are taught much about digging. I learned to dig, rather, as a newspaper reporter and editor. None of my bosses in journalism gave me digging instructions,……

by David Benjamin   MADISON, Wis.—A question readers often ask is, “Where do you get your ideas?” The short, smartass answer is “My head.” The candid response is hard to express because inspiration varies from story to story, book to book. What I’ve learned, for sure, however, is that you can’t fashion a good yarn……

The choice between writing “realism” or venturing into science-fiction and fantasy is often irrevocable, unless the writer can somehow follow the unique example of Franz Kafka.   by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Every fiction writer, often subconsciously, decides early in life whether to base his or her stories in the “real” world or to venture instead……

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Almost every male who grew up between—roughly—1960 and 1990 knows which cinema hero carried, tucked into a slim side-holster so as not to disturb the line of his suit, a Walther PPK.  As I thought about James Bond’s favorite pistol, I got curious about it and opened my Standard Catalog of……

There is a Jekyll & Hyde quality in the nature of a professional writer. In person, the writer seems not writerly at all. He or she can seem quiet, unassuming, even withdrawn. But to be effective, a good writer subsumes all self-doubt, conceals misgivings from the reader and writes with controlled aggression.   by David……

by David Benjamin   “There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights, “There’s a traffic jam in Harlem that’s backed up to Jackson Heights, “There’s a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild! “Car 54, where are you?”   MADISON, Wis.—Occasionally, to test my memory, I try singing to myself……

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—A growing phenomenon in film and TV entertainment, especially over the last quarter-century, is the morally vacuous villain, a badass so totally devoid of redeeming qualities that he or she is not character but caricature. This trend is manifest in the proliferation of films, and an entire studio—Marvel—rooted in comic books.……

by David Benjamin MADISON Wis.—I’ve decided to end the year cathartically with a rant against one of my career-long nemeses, the literary agent racket. I recently remembered an exchange with an agent named Alice, whose name I won’t mention because these people are vindictive. Before sending Alice my query, I had researched her thoroughly. I……

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—At a book festival recently, I listened to a young author named Hannah who specializes in thrillers, a genre in which also I’ve worked. During the Q&A, a reader asked whether Hannah feels troubled while describing scenes of detailed cruelty or bloodshed.  Flatly, Hannah said “No.” She explained that, as a……