About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, & Five Interviews

Contents

Contents Preface and Acknowledgments vii An Introduction: Emblems of Talent 1 PartI SEVEN ESSAYS Teaching/Writing 6 Thickening the Plot 69 Characters 77 On Pure Storytelling 5 Of Doubts and Dreams 95 After Almost No Time at All the String on Which He Had Been Pulling and Pulling Came Apart into Two Separate Pieces So Quickly He Hardly Realized It Had Snapped, or: Reflections on “The Beach Fire” 107 Some Notes for the Intermediate and Advanced Creative Writing Student 117 PartII FOUR LETTERS Letter to P— 151 Letter to Q— 161 Letter to R— 11 Letter to S— 201 PartIII FiVE INTERViEWS A Para•doxa Interview: Experimental Writing/Texts & Questions 209 An American฀Literary฀History Interview: The Situation of American Writing Today 271 A Poetry฀Project฀Newsletter Interview: A Silent Interview 299 A Black฀Clock Interview 11 A Para•doxa Interview: Inside and Outside the Canon 7 Appendix: Nits, Nips, Tucks, and Tips Name, Date, Place 75 Read Widely 77 Grammar and Parts of Speech 77 Sentences 2 Punctuating Dialogue 5 A Final Note on Dialogue 97 Apostrophes 99 Dramatic Structure 400 Excitement, Drama, Suspense, Surprise, Violence 40 Point of View 411 First Person 412 Trust Your Image 415 Write What You Know 417 vi Contents ...