One.
I’m back again to plug the “Writers Who Read” podcast—a Colorado thing. In fact, literary agent and RMFW board member Mira Landry is one of the three co-hosts along with Gary McBride (who has taught at Colorado Gold) and Whitney Pinion. The group has been gathering monthly since 2018 but is now extending itself into podcast land. The latest episode, about Lawrence Wright’s Mr. Texas sent me immediately to go buy a copy and start reading. These analyses are sharp and the discussions are very well planned. As a writer, you’re bound to pick up something valuable with each chat.
Two.
Speaking of podcasts, I never thought I would dig this half as much as I do: The Filmographers podcast, which follows film-by-film through the career of Steven Soderbergh. Who? The guy who made both “Sex, Lies and Videotape,” “Oceans 11” (and 12 and 13), “Erin Brockovich” and obscure movies like “The Bubble.” And dozens of others. What’s in it for a writer? This: bring to the stories what they need. You don’t need to stick to one style or one genre. Take risks. Just had a big Hollywood blockbuster? Try something small and offbeat. Invest in the story. And call it good. The podcast is co-hosted by a couple of novelists and story freaks—Michael Moreci and Keir Graff. (Keir has previously taught at Colorado Gold.).
Three.
When you’re writing and when you’re done with a draft, go back through and read the body and/or facial expressions only. Me? I repeat the same ones over and over. So many brows being furrowed! This is a real opportunity to show your creativity. It’s a real opportunity to keep your readers surprised. And also to not fall into tropey traps. How many shrugs do you have in 80,000 words? More than one? This page might help.
Four.
As a writer, do you follow the world of bookstores and publishing, etc.? I know it’s entirely possible to have a writing career and never step foot in a bookstore, but I think it’s worth knowing what’s going on the retail end of things. This overview in the New Yorker was a) very well written and b) offered insightful thoughts about the way some bookstores are managing to survive in 2024.
Five.
Next-to-last thought I’ll give to Raymond Carver: “Some writers have a bunch of talent; I don’t know any writers who are without it. But a unique and exact way of looking at things, and finding the right context for expressing that way of looking, that’s something else … Every great, or even every very good writer, makes the world over according to his own specifications. It’s akin to style, what I’m talking about, but it isn’t style alone. It is the writer’s particular and unmistakable signature on everything he writes. It is his world and no other. This is one of the things that distinguishes one writer from another. Not talent. There’s plenty of that around. But a writer who has some special way of looking at things and who gives artistic expression to that way of looking: that writer may be around for a time.” (That’s from a New York Times “Shoptalk” from 1981.)
Six.
Hope to see you at Colorado Gold.
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Photo of brow being furrowed by Oliver Ragfelt on Unsplash