A Resource for Fiction Writers and Poets: “The Art of the Essay” – What?

I’ve found a new resource for fiction writers and poets. 

In The Art of the Essay: From Ordinary Life to Extraordinary Words, Charity Singleton Craig quotes Wendell Berry on writing. Berry is a poet, essayist, novelist, speaker, and, some would say, philosopher. I’ve read his poetry, several of his novels and short stories, and many of his articles, especially those on agriculture and farming. Throughout all of his writing, Berry is consistent, articulating a worldview of community and faith, and redemption and restoration.

Craig highlights Berry’s concerns about the loss of meaningful language, citing an essay he wrote as far back as 1979. Berry argues that the loss of meaningful language parallels the disintegration of community, and the only way to restore language is to choose words from “community speech.” Part of that restoration process is to “dismiss generalities because rarely is something all bad or all good.”

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

"The Art of the Essay" by Charity Singleton Craig

Writers read a lot of books on writing. I’ve learned that books on writing fall into three loose groups. One group, by far the largest, focuses on the craft, similar to lectures by English composition teachers. A second group is by authors who’ve worked very hard to sound wise and profound; I call this group the self-recognized oracles. And the third and smallest group is by authors who genuinely want to help other writers because they love writing and they know how hard it can be.

Most writers of books in that second group will claim their work is actually in the third group. I call that self-deception of self-recognized oracles. 

The Art of the Essay: From Ordinary Life to Extraordinary Words by Charity Singleton Craigf alls squarely, and without pretense, in that third group. This is a narrative that’s written to me as a writer from a writer who loves what she does and wants other writers to love what they do.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

5 Strategies for Prolific Reading

In the past week, I’ve read a biography of Gino Bartoli, the Italian cycling champion; two novellas by noir detective writer Dashiell Hammett; three books of poetry; a children’s novel; and a book about a mission project in Uganda.

It was a slow week for reading.

My earliest memory of reading is sitting next to my mother as she read Grimm’s Fairy Tales to me, a child’s reading edition originally published in the 1920s. The story that stood out was “Hansel and Gretel,” with the children getting lost in the woods because the birds ate the bread crumbs they left for a trail. I believe I was three.

I still have the book, an oversized volume with a green cover and considerably “child-worn,” including my Crayola drawings on the inside covers.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Charity Singleton Craig’s place.

Photograph by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.