Craft and Creativity
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Autofiction as a Doorway Into Truth
Some of my favorite novels are not-so-secretly autobiographical. I’m thinking of The Idiot by Elif Batuman, The Mandarins by Simone de Beauvoir, or A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. None of these novels tell their authors’ stories with complete dedication to factual reality, but each of them are based on true, lived experiences, and they…
Reflect, Reset, Begin Again: A Summer Writing Check-In
Every year in January, I tell myself the same thing: This year will be different. I will be focused, disciplined, and wildly productive. I will know exactly what I want to write, how to write it, and I will do so without second-guessing every word or wandering off-course. And every July, I open whatever notebook or computer file I used to…
How to Use Tropes in Fiction
Tropes are the storytelling patterns writers return to again and again—the reluctant hero, the love triangle, the mentor who imparts just enough wisdom before disappearing. They’re not plotlines, exactly, but the recognizable shapes a story can take. Tropes are like signposts, guiding readers through familiar terrain. Encountering one can feel like running into an old…