Category Archives: words
Writing fiction: The dilemma of good endings
My number one reason for being disappointed with a book or short story? The ending. Either the writer chooses a dénouement that doesn’t fit with the personalities or plot points introduced, or the writer so inadequately resolves the circumstances and themes explored that the reader feels cheated. In essence, a disappointing ending does a disservice [...]
New fiction: Marie-Anne and her stomach
“You’re just attracted to the person who you think he is. You don’t know him well. If you did, you might not feel this way,” S. reasoned. “No. You’re wrong,” Marie-Anne replied quickly, but did not go any further, unsure of what else she could say. How to explain that the problem was with her [...]
Another snippet of writing
Jan hadn’t really wanted to watch a romantic comedy tonight. But there hadn’t been anything else at the video place and this romcom promised to be different. There were no marquee actors in it, the soundtrack was suitably alternative and the trailers left some doubt about the happily-ever-after ending. Perfect for a rainy Tuesday night. [...]
New fiction: Marie-Anne and the dishes
Found scribbled in the back pages of my agenda. Written during a lull at Webcom last November 17. He was washing the dishes as they spoke on the telephone. Marie-Anne recognized the cascade of water as it rolled across a dish, broke into fat drops and then pattered against the steel sink in a crescendo [...]
Writing for an audience. Or not.
On Monday, I came across an interesting article by Alix Christie that sparked a lively debate about why novelists keep writing even when the whole world seems bent on telling them, “don’t bother”. The back and forth filled a screen on Facebook and Jill Murray even went on to blog about it. Twice! In one post, [...]
Writing yogis. Yogi writers.
With another session of our yoga and writing workshop coming up this September 26, I’ve been answering a lot of questions about the connection between these two activities. “Um, how can you do yoga and write at the same time?” The conversation that follows usually touches on liberating expression by first silencing the ego and [...]
New fiction: Marie-Anne in the city
When Marie-Anne learned that he would be out of town for a week, at first she was relieved. Since he had first entered her imagination as the most handsome and kindest of men some weeks ago, Marie-Anne began to see him everywhere. Once, she was biking to the studio and he was standing at the [...]
Show, don’t tell
I was recently sent on assignment to cover the inaugural Summer Literary Seminars – specifically, to sit in on a workshop being led by Croatian-American author Josip Novakovich. Being in the workshop was reminiscent of my days in the Concordia Creative Writing program. Sitting around a long table. Nervous fiddling with pens. Coffee in cardboard cups. The [...]
Finding stability
I’ve been having this one particular thought a lot lately, but I didn’t consider it be share-worthy until last Friday afternoon while I crouched over a strawberry patch, my fingertips smeared red from picking. The thought is this: We’re all so busy searching for stability outside of our selves (for example, in a job or in [...]
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New fiction: Marie-Anne on Monday morning