They say — or, at least, a lot of famous writers say — that to become a good writer, you should also read a lot.
This makes sense to me. I try to learn from whatever I’m reading — even if it’s ad copy in a magazine. Even if it’s from bad writing. At least I can learn how not to write an ad, a book, a short story.
No reading is ever wasted if you learn from it.
Continue reading “Current reads”Some thoughts on writing the end of a thing, inspired by one of my favorite novels of 2024
One of my favorite novels of 2024 is Martyr!, by Kaveh Akbar. It is the story of a twentysomething poet and recovering alcoholic named Cyrus (Karoosh in Persian). When he was just an infant, Cyrus immigrated to the U.S. with his father after his mother was killed when the plane she was on was shot down over the Persian Gulf . Cyrus becomes obsessed with martyrs and martyrdom, and travels from his Indiana home to Brooklyn to meet an Iranian-American artist, Orkideh, who has terminal cancer and is living out her last days in an art museum for her final art exhibit.
I want to share one passage from Martyr! that triggered in me some thoughts about the writing process and its mysteries:
Continue reading “Silence behind me, silence before me”Because everyone needs another year-end ‘best of’ list
In addition to wanting to reboot my creative writing in 2024, I wanted to increase my consumption of literary fiction. (I say “consumption” because I listen to audiobooks about as much as I read books in print or e-books. And some ableist book snobs people don’t consider audiobooks to be on par with their printed counterparts. So consumption it is.)
I’ve been an avid, but by no means voracious, reader since college. Over the past decade or so, however, I’ve gravitated toward more “practical” and career-oriented reading. I focused mainly on books about leadership, marketing, productivity, organizational dynamics, and such. That focus left little time or energy for more creative, recreational reading.
This year, my reading took a much-needed turn. I read (consumed) a lot of fiction, literary and otherwise, in 2024, as well as some good non-fiction works including history, spirituality, and books about the writing craft. I also re-read some dust-gatherers in my home library, or listened to them. All told, I consumed over 70 titles. You can find them listed on my reading log. My to-be-read (TBR) list continues to expand, and my home-office bookshelves, which I’d purged soon after retiring (three big paper boxes’ worth went to the local library), are beginning to regain a semblance of cozy clutter, even as my Kindle app fills to the brim with digital reads. Audiobooks allowed me to be a more efficient consumer of writing, as I could listen to a book while cleaning, cooking, working out, and driving.
A recent New York Times op-ed raises some concerns.
An opinion piece in The New York Times over the weekend — titled “The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone” (gift link) — has me thinking about the role of gender and, dare I say, diversity in the field of literature today.
The author, David J. Morris, who teaches creative writing at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, writes that “literary fiction has become a largely female pursuit.”
Continue reading “Is the literary man an endangered species?”Today is Indigenous Peoples’ Day in the U.S. It’s celebrated on the second Monday of October, the same date as Columbus Day, to honor the history, culture, and contributions of Native Americans. What better way than to share some of the writings of Native American authors? Here are a few I recommend.
Continue reading “Some Indigenous Peoples’ Day reading (with videos)”
