Writing

How is a novel in progress like an unfinished sculpture in bronze? The similarity lies in the gruntwork that follows a burst of inspiration and the molding of the narrative. by David Benjamin During my Boston days, I made friends with a sculptor from New Hampshire, Allen Taylor, who worked in a technique known as……

by David Benjamin I worked a while in the unlikely capacity of public relations flack for a consultancy in Boston. The saving grace of this assignment was my boss, the estimable Patrick Pollino, a paragon of old-school—ethical—public relations. More important, he was an editor with few peers. One of Patrick’s “products” at Arthur D. Little,……

by David Benjamin I recently read a nicely crafted mystery by James Bradberry, Ruins of Civility. In his story, Bradberry describes each setting and character in long, meticulous paragraphs. Since the novel is set among the architecture faculty at Cambridge University, it’s appropriate for the author to apply this close scrutiny to the physical aspects……

Many storytellers serve a writing apprenticeship in journalism. The skills essential to good reporting are valuable tools to the author of fiction. But the habits of journalism can also be a handicap. One author who made the transition most memorably was Ernest Hemingway. by David Benjamin I learned “AP style” by absorption. By the time……

I once got in trouble with the agent racket by writing a series of essays about the callousness of the rejections I received to my painstakingly composed queries. But in the process of making overtures to every branch of the publishing industry, I learned lessons about how rejections get dished out and how, as a……

by David Benjamin Once a writer has created a character, given him or her a history and subjected said character to the rigors of an entire novel, breaking up is hard to do. This brainchild has very likely taken on a life of his or her own over the course of a long story and……

Starting out a story is a challenge that tempts the author to overwrite, to unload his or her whole vocabulary, to deploy an arsenal of literary devices in a sort of prose blitzkrieg. tThe author also faces an implicit market demand to hit the reader with razzle-dazzle, blood and guts, right off the bat. This……

Among the most important characters in television history is Tony Soprano, a murderous adulterer who was, nevertheless, likable. His guilt and insecurities inspired empathy in his audience and instilled in them a sense of moral ambiguity rare in popular entertainment. This installment of Write Away ponders the writer’s imperative to create bad guys who are……

Write Away — #13 Among the commonest—and most perplexing—comments I encounter when talking to readers at a book talk is: “I never read fiction.” I understand that reading nonfiction, about history, political science, economics, etc., carries an “educational” cachet, casting upon the reader a glow of seriousness. By contrast, then, fiction is somehow frivolous, a……