Advice
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Teaching Philosophy
What makes for the most conducive learning experience for a writing student,
whether she/he is studying fiction or memoir (which is what I teach), is to allow the
student to find what it is that needs to be said, how it needs to be said, by offering
both encouragement and guidance...
How I Teach the Short Story
First let me confess that I think that the short story is one of the most sublime of
literary forms. It is probably due to my unwillingness to believe in monogamy and to
my belief that less is more...
What Really Happens in a Memoir Class
For many people at the beginning of their exploration of the memoir, it seems as if
god had provided them with the perfect genre in which to vent a terrible load of bad
feelings and to point the finger at the culprit(s) who caused such pain and injury in
their lives. This may, in fact, be the catalyst for many...
How to Use Another Writer to Learn How to Write
It is not surprising when you go to an art museum and you see people sitting and
copying a painting. It is fascinating to watch them, to see how they meticulously copy
what some master has done...
Conflict and Risk
Your primary goal as the storyteller is to arouse in your readers a fundamental
change in the way they perceive the world. The most effective way for a storyteller to
learn how to do this is by learning what conflict, risk and resolution are...
Writing in the First Person
Whenever you choose the narrator for your story, it is a good idea to know why you
have chosen to tell the story from that particular POV. Since most beginning writers
tend to write in first person, I thought it would be a good idea to present some of the
most useful advice I have been able to give to my students...
Why Choose to be a Writer?
There are mornings when I wake up with a head full of the kinds of questions many
people face every day. Just how am I going to pay the bills? When will I ever own a
car? Will I ever have a retirement account? Then bigger questions emerge. Will I ever
achieve the kind of publishing success that might make paying the bills and buying
the car and even having a retirement account possible?
What makes for the most conducive learning experience for a writing student,
whether she/he is studying fiction or memoir (which is what I teach), is to allow the
student to find what it is that needs to be said, how it needs to be said, by offering
both encouragement and guidance...
How I Teach the Short Story
First let me confess that I think that the short story is one of the most sublime of
literary forms. It is probably due to my unwillingness to believe in monogamy and to
my belief that less is more...
What Really Happens in a Memoir Class
For many people at the beginning of their exploration of the memoir, it seems as if
god had provided them with the perfect genre in which to vent a terrible load of bad
feelings and to point the finger at the culprit(s) who caused such pain and injury in
their lives. This may, in fact, be the catalyst for many...
How to Use Another Writer to Learn How to Write
It is not surprising when you go to an art museum and you see people sitting and
copying a painting. It is fascinating to watch them, to see how they meticulously copy
what some master has done...
Conflict and Risk
Your primary goal as the storyteller is to arouse in your readers a fundamental
change in the way they perceive the world. The most effective way for a storyteller to
learn how to do this is by learning what conflict, risk and resolution are...
Writing in the First Person
Whenever you choose the narrator for your story, it is a good idea to know why you
have chosen to tell the story from that particular POV. Since most beginning writers
tend to write in first person, I thought it would be a good idea to present some of the
most useful advice I have been able to give to my students...
Why Choose to be a Writer?
There are mornings when I wake up with a head full of the kinds of questions many
people face every day. Just how am I going to pay the bills? When will I ever own a
car? Will I ever have a retirement account? Then bigger questions emerge. Will I ever
achieve the kind of publishing success that might make paying the bills and buying
the car and even having a retirement account possible?
©2007 Deborah Emin