Quarterly Column ArchiveQ4 2007 Q4 2006 |
Q3 2008Find Your Own WayOkay, so there are things like plot and character development, in fiction, and stanzas and line breaks, in poetry. So, what do you know about them? Do you ever step back from a story or poem that shakes you to the core and ask "How'd the writer do it?" No? Then you're cutting your writing self short. What does close reading do? It helps the fiction writer see the myriad ways that plot can unfold, characters can come to life, tense can create a sense of time and distance; and it helps the poet see the myriad ways poems can be structured, lines can be broken, narrative can carry a poem. Close reading opens up a world of possibilities and obliterates any restrictions that have been pounded into your head, such as "show, don't tell." The next time you read something that blows you away, go back to it and read it again and again, slowly. Move backward from the sum to its parts. What are those parts? How does the story or poem come together? And then remember that this is one way. Then find your own way. |
|
|