Tense About Tenses
A few weeks ago, Ellen Levine passed around an article by Philip Pullman about the use of the present tense. “What I dislike about the present tense narrative,” Pullman writes, “is its limited range of...
Read MoreAuthor: Liza Ketchum
Dystopian novels
When the buzz began about the release of Mockingjay, I started thinking about the growing popularity of dystopian novels. I’m reading two now. One is a provocative work-in-progress titledHive, by my student Heather Zenzen. The...
Read MoreThoughts on Form and Structure
I don’t remember who said or wrote: “Form sets you free.” When I was younger, just starting out, I rebelled against anything that smacked of rigidity or confinement. But lately, I have found that writing within a set form...
Read MoreA defining sentence
Many of us were inspired and moved by Elizabeth Partridge’s talk in July. One of the wonderful things that stayed with me was the way Partridge searches for a sentence that expresses the theme of each non-fiction book that she...
Read MoreWriting and Tai Chi
Two days after returning from the residency, I took part in a retreat with members of my Tai Chi class. We have been learning Form 42 since January, a long form that may take us the rest of this lifetime—if not much of the...
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