Category: writing technique

Jennifer Manuel #002: Pathos and simile in SILENT E !

Nov 13, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in choose your weapon, fancy footwork, fiction, knockout idea, power punch, short stories, Uncategorized, writing technique

After my analysis of Jennifer Manuel’s award-winning story, “The Woman in the Box with the Baby,” Jennifer wrote and tweeted to tell me she was pleased with what I had to say about her work –whew! She also e-mailed me a copy of another award-winning tale of hers, “Silent E,” a story that earned…
3 Days to SIWC…so here’s a link to a post on the power of 3!

Oct 23, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in power punch, writing technique

Three days until SIWC . . . so here’s a link to an Aussie writer, Jonathan Crossfield, who has penned his own take on the POWER OF THREE in writing. Click and take a peek: http://www.jonathancrossfield.com/blog/2009/06/writing-the-power-of-three.html
6 days until SIWC… 6 sentence styles to test out in your writing

Oct 20, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in choose your weapon, fancy footwork, fiction, writing technique

6 days until SIWC, so here are six styles of sentences (found in recent readings!) for you to take a peek at. Thanks Shan, Katie, Aaron, and Lena for chasing these down in your reading: 1. The Interrupted Sentence Maybe he should have stopped—showed them that he wasn’t afraid—but the muscles in his legs…
An important character to add for your protagonist

Sep 5, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, novels, power punch, short stories, writing technique

Ok, in my last post, I promised the next one would deal with a character you want to add in for your protagonist. There are actually TWO that I’ll talk about. Think positives and negatives. For a muscle to get stronger, it has to push against something, a heavy weight. This weight is…
Katabasis and your narrative fiction

Sep 1, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, knockout idea, novels, short stories, writing technique

In Linda Lappin’s article, “Your Journey to Hell and Back,” in the September 2013 edition of The Writer, she returns to Joseph Campbell’s classic text, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, to discuss KATABASIS: According to Campbell, in myths fairy tales and fictional narratives of mythic resonance, the hero’s or heroine’s descent to the…
micro POETRY: It’s anything but…

Aug 23, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in poetry, power punch, writing technique

Want to sharpen up your writing skills? Give micro-poetry a try. People slam Twitter, but the truth is, it’s very difficult to put a lot of meaning into a very short space, and Tweeps can be very creative in how they do it. 140 characters is not a lot when it comes to crafting…
Nonfiction openings #005: Life bites back!

Aug 10, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, writing technique

First, read the following opening: KILLING MY BODY TO SAVE MY MIND, by Lauren Slater, from Elle My blood is in a blender. It’s just about the only bit of brightness in this drab office of a life insurance company that, before betting on my body, wants to sample its various fluids. First, it…
Nonfiction beginnings #004: When reality hits hard!

Aug 9, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fiction, nonfiction, novels, power punch, short stories, writing technique

First, read… THE BITCH IS BACK, by Sandra Tsing Loh, from The Atlantic During menopause, a woman can feel like the only way she can continue to exist for ten more seconds inside her crawling, burning skin is to walk screaming into the sea—grandly, epically, and terrifyingly, like a fifteen-foot-tall Greek tragic figure wearing a…
Nonfiction beginnings #003: Sarcasm to the ultimate!

Aug 9, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, nonfiction, novels, power punch, short stories, writing technique

In the following passage, watch how Mark Edmundson creates a long buildup, lulls us into what we expect to hear–and then snaps us out of it in an instant! WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? by Mark Edmundson, in The Oxford American Welcome and congratulations: getting to the first day of college…
Nonfiction openings #002: “The Good Short Life” by Dudley Clendinen

Aug 7, 2013

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by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, nonfiction, novels, short stories, writing technique

As you read the following introduction, keep in mind that it is NONFICTION: THE GOOD SHORT LIFE, by Dudley Clendinen, from The New York Times Sunday Review I have wonderful friends. In this last year, one took me to Istanbul. One gave me a box of handcrafted chocolates. Fifteen of them held two rousing, pre-posthumous…