Tag: connotation

POWER POSITIONS IN PROSE: Niloufar-Lily Soltani’s ZULAIKHA

Nov 20, 2023

—

by

Ace Baker

in champion, choose your weapon, fancy footwork, golden gloves, novels, power punch, starters, writing technique

I met Lily Soltani at the Robson Indigo bookstore this past weekend, where she was doing a book signing. In fact, I was the first to get a signed copy… I cracked open the cover, began to read, and quickly discovered what the publisher, Inanna, must have noticed when they selected this book for publication;…
Nonfiction openings #005: Life bites back!

Aug 10, 2013

—

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

—

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 openings #002: “The Good Short Life” by Dudley Clendinen

Aug 7, 2013

—

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…
Nonfiction openings #001: “You Owe Me,” by Miah Arnold

Aug 6, 2013

—

by

Ace Baker

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

I’ll begin this week’s look at nonfiction openings with a tear-jerker from Miah Arnold: YOU OWE ME, by Miah, Arnold, from Michigan Quarterly Review The children I write with die, no matter how much I love them, no matter how creative they are, no matter how many poems they have written or how much they…
Cody Klippenstein #003: Connotation and cacophony!

Jul 21, 2013

—

by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, fiction, novels, power punch, writing technique

Yesterday, we saw simplicity, softness, and single-syllable words in a romantic passage in Klippenstein’s “Case Studies in Ascension.” Today, we’re going to see the tougher side of this young, talented writer. While she may have used short, soft words to describe a loving moment, look what she does as we near the END…
Golden Gloves to Wilder Soul

Jul 19, 2013

—

by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, golden gloves, poetry, writing technique

Ok, the symbolism task was NOT EASY yesterday, but one writer took the challenge head on and did a great job–connotation, symbolism, and allusion to show depth. The trouble is, I don’t know the NAME of this person, or where she’s from, but her (his?) pseudonym is… WILDER SOUL It’s 15:23 and I am…
Poetry Week #005: Test Day!

Jul 18, 2013

—

by

Ace Baker

in headlock, poetry

Ok, it’s test day! The first task, if you haven’t done that already, is to read yesterday’s post about connotation, symbolism, and allusion in Lorna Crozier’s “Crossing Willow Bridge.” Your job today is to look at Karen Connelly’s “From My Father’s Hand,” and see what you can find. Objects and items and symbols abound. What…
Poetry week #004: Crozier and symbolism

Jul 17, 2013

—

by

Ace Baker

in fancy footwork, poetry, writing technique

First, read this poem by Lorna Crozier quickly: CROSSING WILLOW BRIDGE On the farm a willow bridge though this is Saltspring Island not Japan. Sometimes it crosses water, sometimes not. This morning after rain the ground slides into mud. My mother and I tread our way to see the baby llama in the far…