Eva Hunter

Archive for 2011


I Want You to Look At Sol

In Creative Writing, Literary genre, The Craft of Writing, Writing a Book on July 20, 2011 at 1:16 pm

I’m going to begin a new series in the next issue of PROFESSIONAL WRITING COACH, called “Writing the Perfect Sentence.” So you have some homework while you’re waiting. Find what you think is the perfect sentence. I’m not going to tell you what the elements that make up a perfect sentence are in this column. That’s what you’ll be finding out over the next several months in the new series. But here’s a hint: Often the best sentence in a piece–short or long, fiction or literary nonfiction–is the first sentence. See what you can find. Send your “perfect” sentence in through the comments section below. I’ll use them as examples.

But what’s this about Sol? Am I talking about Mexican beer, an acronym for “shit outta luck,” or–getting closer now–the Spanish word for “sun.” Sol: English Writing in Mexico is the on-line literary magazine published by Professional Writing Coach and a team of talented editors, in conjunction with the San Miguel de Allende Chapter of International PEN. We have a reading series every year, which begin this year with prolific author, Joseph Dispenza , reading from his new book (out in September in hard copy as well as Kindle) Old er Man/Younger Man: A Love Story. The proceeds from the readings, which will be twice monthly, go to scholarship funds for Mexican youth.

Our fourth issue of Sol has just been published. You can find it at   http://www.solliterarymagazine.com

And here’s an easy way to find your perfect first sentence. Choose it from either fiction or nonfiction in the current issue of the magazine!

Here’s an example from the beginning of Deborah  Ken Stein’s nonfiction piece, Saying Goodbye to Miss Spetgang.

The roof of our school was flat as a plank, and covered with a smooth, rubbery substance that gave a little bounce to my feet when I ran.

That’s a really good first sentence, and I’ll tell you why in the next issue. Meanwhile, start checking out the good writing in Sol: English Writing in Mexico and send me some sentences you think are perfect, by clicking on “Comment” below, and writing them in. Remember–not your first sentences, but something you’ve found already published. Identify the source, please.

Here’s how you get to Sol: English Writing in Mexico: www.solliterarymagazine.com


Writing Exercise: Those bad, bad adjectives!

In Becoming a Writer, Creative Writing on July 20, 2011 at 12:49 pm

Huh? What’s wrong with adjectives? Aren’t they the way we tell the reader exactly what we’re trying to tell them? Aren’t adjectives part of “show, don’t tell?”  Well–maybe yes and maybe no. It depends on the quality of the adjective. Unfortunately, most of us tend to use what I call “wimpy adjectives.”  Here are some examples adapted from a recent writing workshop:

1. She drove down the street past  sparkling, elegant  houses.

2. We could not see behind the brightly-colored walls: they ran from one house to the next down the cobbled road.

3. Her house was  beautiful, cozy, comfortable, and welcoming.

So what’s wrong with those sentences, you ask? Is Professional Writing Coach getting entirely too fussy? The adjectives involved are: elegant, sparkling, beautiful, brightly-colored, cobbled, cozy, comfortable, welcoming. Of all of those, “cobbled” is the closest to being a good, descriptive adjective.

But what about the others? We know what “splendid” means, don’t we? We know what “sparklingl”  is. Or do we? Consider that what you might be thinking of when you write “splendid,” may not be the way your reader defines splendid. I may think a restored California Craftsman style house on a shady older neighborhood street is splendid. You may prefer a Mac Mansion in a newer suburban neighborhood. The same goes for “sparkling.” What does that mean? It was after dark, and the lights were on? It was in Arizona and the sun was bright?

In reality wimpy adjectives tell us nothing. They don’t contribute toward the accomplishment of every writer’s task: to take what is in the mind of the writer, transfer it, through the medium of the page, to the mind of the reader–as directly and accurately as possible.

Now look at the other adjectives in the list. Do they paint the picture we are trying to paint? Or do they leave it to the reader to fill in the colors–perhaps not the colors you had in mind, at all.

Consider this selection from Lawrence Durrell’s Justine, the first book in his Alexandria Quartet: Read the rest of this entry »


Choosing Organization for Your Story

In Becoming a Writer, Creative Nonfiction, Creative Writing, Literary Nonfiction, The Craft of Writing, Writing nonfiction on February 26, 2011 at 3:01 pm

THE CRAFT OF WRITING

part nine–Collage, Function as Form, Spiral

(If you are new to this series please check the archives for previous selections in THE CRAFT OF WRITING)

Today we’re going to discuss the last three organizational structures on the list. We’ve covered straight chronology, revised chronology, flashback, converging narrative, and the trip. This column will cover the final three: collage, function as form, and spiral.

Collage is what it sounds like. It is a way of writing that is organized through a series of observations or facts patched together into a (mostly) creative nonfiction piece. Although it sounds simple, it’s not. In my classes, I encourage only the most skilled of writers to try collage. The pieces of writing must be succinct and have a common thread that runs between each of  them. For a good example of a skilled use of collage, read Caroline Roberts’ piece, “A Simple Mole” in the July, 2010 issue of SOL: English Writing in Mexico. http://solliterarymagazine.com

In Function as Form, the story is organized by the subject itself. In Tracy Kidder’s literary nonfiction book,  “House,” for example, the story is about the experience of the owners, and the building crew, while a house is being constructed. It is organized by things like: pouring the foundation; putting up the walls; the landscaping. So Kidder tells us the story of what the family is doing while the cement foundation is poured–bringing out problems, decisions, misunderstandings that might have happened. Then he switches to what the building crew is doing while the foundation is being poured. Then the same thing with the framing, and so on–until the house is complete.  Obviously, as in all literary nonfiction books, Kidder had to be on-hand during the entire process. A book like “House” isn’t written from after-the-fact interviews. Read the rest of this entry »