A Podcast That Has Old-School Smarts
[Julie] Klausner might be at her most irresistible when the speed of her monologue picks up, and she seems to be working out ideas out loud. As critics develop and refine opinions into reviews, their first impressions, which is often the most honest ones, can get lost or muted. That rarely happens in “How Was Your Week?” In fact, Ms. Klausner, who studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade, makes you think that criticism could learn something from improv.
—Jason Zinoman, The New York Times
![picadorbookroom:
When you started writing, in high school or college, it wasn’t out of a wish to be published, or to be successful, or even to win a lovely award like the one you’re receiving tonight. It was in response to the wondrousness and humiliation of being alive. Remember?
—Jeffrey Eugenides, 2012 Whiting Award speech
[Image: via]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/3bc5d0eab7d12ac1f8d24c6fca4cd93d/tumblr_mfp4xqka771rruvf1o1_500.jpg)
When you started writing, in high school or college, it wasn’t out of a wish to be published, or to be successful, or even to win a lovely award like the one you’re receiving tonight. It was in response to the wondrousness and humiliation of being alive. Remember?
—Jeffrey Eugenides, 2012 Whiting Award speech
[Image: via]
25 Writing Prompts to Inspire Twitter Fiction
18. What would a superhero tweet?
19. Write a blurb describing how your favorite novel makes you feel, without using the name of the actual novel.
20. How would your favorite historical character use Twitter?
![“Get the hell out of Dodge” is a reference to Dodge City, Kansas, which was a favorite location for westerns in the early to mid 20th century. Most memorably, the phrase was made famous by the TV show “Gunsmoke,” in which villians were often commanded to “get the hell out of Dodge.” The phrase took on its current meaning in the 1960s and 70s when teenagers began to use it in its current form.
[via]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcv96on39W1qjsf5ho1_400.jpg)
“Get the hell out of Dodge” is a reference to Dodge City, Kansas, which was a favorite location for westerns in the early to mid 20th century. Most memorably, the phrase was made famous by the TV show “Gunsmoke,” in which villians were often commanded to “get the hell out of Dodge.” The phrase took on its current meaning in the 1960s and 70s when teenagers began to use it in its current form.
[via]
“To me, the final product is like an iceberg: you only see ten percent of the actual work, but that other ninety percent is still there.”
Chris Offutt on revising your writing / Performing Surgery without Anesthesia / The Writer’s Notebook (Tin House)
Engaging (adj.)
1 having an often mysterious or magical power to attract
Synonyms: alluring, appealing, attractive, bewitching, captivating, charismatic, charming, elfin, enchanting, engaging, entrancing, fetching, glamorous (also glamourous), luring, magnetic, seductive
Related Words: absorbing, arresting, engrossing, enthralling, galvanic, gripping, hypnotic, hypnotizing, mesmerizing, riveting, spellbinding; enticing, tantalizing, tempting; exciting, haunting, interesting, intriguing, titillating; beckoning, inviting, winning; darling, delightful, pleasant, pleasing
2 holding the attention or provoking interest
Synonyms: absorbing, arresting, consuming, engaging,engrossing, enthralling, fascinating, gripping, immersing,intriguing, involving, riveting
Related Words: breathtaking, electric, electrifying, exciting,exhilarating, galvanizing, inspiring, rousing, stimulating, stirring, thrilling; provocative, tantalizing; emphatic, showy, splashy, striking; alluring, attractive, bewitching,captivating, charming, enchanting, spellbinding; hypnotizing,mesmerizing; curious, odd, unusual, weird; amazing, astonishing, astounding, eventful, eye-opening, fabulous, marvelous (or marvellous), surprising, wonderful, wondrous;amusing, entertaining
[via Merriam-Webster]
The Critic as Memoirist: Jonathan Lethem’s new book on Talking Heads is the latest entry in an exciting new hybrid form
by Mark O’Connell
The book [Talking Heads’ Fear of Music], part of the 33 1/3 series, is full of long, brilliant passages of music criticism interspersed with riffs on topics such as science fiction, paranoia, fame, and Asperger’s syndrome. But it’s at its most interesting at those moments when Lethem tilts the mirror of autobiographical reflection at just the right angle to reflect both himself and the music of Talking Heads in some new light. …
… Lethem is the latest writer to work within a hybrid form whose cultural moment seems to have arrived: criticism as memoir. …
… Our cultural enthusiasms and aversions are central, after all, to our identities—to how we see ourselves and to how we want others to see us. “The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography,” as Oscar Wilde put it in “The Critic as Artist.” To write about art is to write about yourself, even if only implicitly.
Books mentioned in review:
Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with D.H. Lawrence by Geoff Dyer
U and I: a True Story by Nicholson Baker
The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them by Elif Batuman
Let’s Talk about Love: A Journey to the End of Taste by Carl Wilson
Writing Prompt: When Characters Blog
Write what one of your characters would write if that character had a blog.
via Writing Excuses
