Posts Tagged ‘Dialogue’
Get At the Marrow: Tension in Dialogue
As I’ve aged, I’ve gotten thin-skinned. I mean that literally. As a result of my stroke in 2012 and subsequent episodes of atrial fibrillation, I take an adult-strength aspirin every day to keep blood clots from forming. Now, when I bump or scrape an arm or a leg, I’m more prone to bruise, developing ugly…
Read MoreA Boy Named Hog Sausage
Last Thursday, much to my and Cathy’s regret, our washing machine gave up the ghost. While we await the delivery of a new one, we’ll have to make a trip to a coin-operated laundry. It’s been a while since I’ve been in one of those, but for many years I accompanied my mother on Saturdays…
Read MoreTips for Writing Scenes
I just returned from Louisville, Kentucky, where I presented a craft lecture at the spring residency of the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing’s MFA program. I offered some tips and techniques for writing scenes in any sort of narrative with a particular emphasis on creative nonfiction. Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to notice…
Read MoreHot Enough?: Practicing Subtext in Dialogue
We’re having a heat wave. Temps in the mid-nineties. Heat indices well over a hundred. Cathy and I went out yesterday afternoon to do some shopping, and the volume of traffic was noticeably lower. The stores were a bit emptier. There was no waiting for a table at one of our favorite restaurants. If a…
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