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Randy Burgess
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Anyone interested in a small critique group for fiction/non-fiction in or near Woodstock?
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Started this discussion. Last reply by Randy Burgess May 22.
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And I should add that "Dubliners" is a themed collection - but again I don't ever read it that way.
We haven't fully unpacked yet, and your book is somewhere in the, uh, web of cartons - so I will have to write here from memory. To be serious rather than flip, for me it reads like a collection of short stories, and not a larger narrative of any so…
Also, you're Episodic, Brent . . . but you too are trying to point to a Big Fated Meaning for all of us. Naughty, naughty, says Mr. Siegel!
At a glance the article seemed puerile to me. Mr. Siegel seems to wish to draw a Big Fated Meaning for literature, but his readings of "Invisible Man" and "Catcher" seem more like misreadings. Yes, I'm cranky today.
I like your diagram a lot!
And thanks about the stories...
Hi Brent,
I have a similar view. In terms of this schema as I’ve laid it out, Audience and Reading are spheres of activity in their own right, even as they are inputs for the yin-yang activities of Craft and Juice at the center of the writing proce…
I like this, Randy -- especially the Juice discussion, which is trying to get at something rather ineffable. I think of Audience and Reading as tools for reaching a goal that includes Craft and Juice. I discovered as I worked on Prima Materia that t…
Prepping for this semester's second writing class tonight at NYU, I got the idea that I should explain to my students that I think of the act of writing as not a single act, but as many acts falling into a few broad categories. In fact I came up wit…
That's why I said "nearly" anyone who writes seriously. There are too many books out there to possibly read all of them, and Delaney will not be to everyone's taste anyway.
does this mean I run out and buy this book right now? I'm tempted. but am in one of those joyous moments early on in the discovery of a specific writer when the majority of his works lie ahead -- and given he's a journalist/novelist I feel it's time…
I'm still picking my way through About Writing, by Samuel R. Delaney, in the astonished manner of a miner who carries only a very small pickax, and is confronted with a very large vein of gold, very deep in the earth.
Nearly anyone who writes seri…
Many years ago I had the privilege of taking a workshop in short story writing with Chip Delaney. As a life-long science fiction reader, I was amazed to hear him say he only read poetry - four or five books a week - and rarely read any SF. But his w…
I should add that my slump is one reason I found the Delaney excerpt so interesting.
I had to look up both "anneal" and "negentropic" - I had a vague idea of "anneal" already, but it's not a word I use often, so I wanted to get it straight. As for "negentropic," I don't think he coined it - it's right in the little dictionary on my…
I like this. I confess I had to look up "anneal," and I'm glad I did. Also love "negentropic," which I suspect he coined -- perhaps an example of going through the annealing moment.
In that first paragraph, he's talking about something very familia…
Reading the excerpt below makes me think of how difficult yet rewarding it must be to peel and eat a durian, that strange fruit found only in southeast Asia, and guarded by not only a foul odor but a thick husk of thorns. The excerpt comes from an e…
Comment Wall (1 comment)
- At 8:05am on July 16, 2009,
Jeffrey Davis said… - Whassup? (seemed an appropriate response to your welcome)
I recently watched 8 Mile. I've not paid much attention to rap especially to Eminem, but the film did what I appreciate in some novels and non-fiction: It immersed me intimately into a world I've never been and likely will never be. It also instilled in me respect for talented rappers' wits and tongue.
Anyway, thanks for the welcome.
A little bit of info about Randy Burgess . . .
As a jack of all trades, master of some, I teach and practice the craft of nonfiction writing in many different genres.
Let's take the teaching part first. You can call me a book doctor - a developmental editor - or a writing coach. Suffice to say that I get my kicks by helping professionals and other experts in various fields translate their knowledge into clear, appealing prose for articles, books, or the Web, for both general and professional audiences. I also teach writing during the fall and spring to students at New York University's School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Next is practice. I write freelance for money a bunch of ways. In recent years I've authored or co-authored 3 books on poker, a book on stock investing, and 3 or 4 magazine articles published in Hudson Valley Magazine. I've done a little contract writing in the ad business, but that's not a strength of mine. What else? Oops, I almost forgot, I write marketing materials for businesses and nonprofits.
Last comes the writing I do for little or no money - usually the latter. These days I'm exploring the genre of the personal essay (just one published so far, in Hudson Valley Magazine a couple of summers ago). I'm thinking of extending a tentative toe in the direction of memoir, too.
Summers I live in Woodstock, winters in NYC. Do I have a blog? Yes, at www.raburgess.com.
Let's take the teaching part first. You can call me a book doctor - a developmental editor - or a writing coach. Suffice to say that I get my kicks by helping professionals and other experts in various fields translate their knowledge into clear, appealing prose for articles, books, or the Web, for both general and professional audiences. I also teach writing during the fall and spring to students at New York University's School of Professional and Continuing Studies.
Next is practice. I write freelance for money a bunch of ways. In recent years I've authored or co-authored 3 books on poker, a book on stock investing, and 3 or 4 magazine articles published in Hudson Valley Magazine. I've done a little contract writing in the ad business, but that's not a strength of mine. What else? Oops, I almost forgot, I write marketing materials for businesses and nonprofits.
Last comes the writing I do for little or no money - usually the latter. These days I'm exploring the genre of the personal essay (just one published so far, in Hudson Valley Magazine a couple of summers ago). I'm thinking of extending a tentative toe in the direction of memoir, too.
Summers I live in Woodstock, winters in NYC. Do I have a blog? Yes, at www.raburgess.com.
Randy Burgess's Blog
What we do as writers: audience, juice, craft, reading
Prepping for this semester's second writing class tonight at NYU, I got the idea that I should explain to my students that I think of the act of writing as not a single act, but as many acts falling into a few broad categories. In fact I came up with four such categories: audience, juice, craft, reading. These overlap, of course, so really they should be shown in a diagram rather than in a list as here.
AUDIENCE
Awareness of audience means you do all the activities listed here under the… Continue
AUDIENCE
Awareness of audience means you do all the activities listed here under the… Continue
Posted on October 13, 2009 at 8:30am — 3 Comments
Samuel R. Delaney on editors, readers, and writing workshops
I'm still picking my way through About Writing, by Samuel R. Delaney, in the astonished manner of a miner who carries only a very… Continue
Posted on September 22, 2009 at 7:48am — 3 Comments
Samuel R. Delaney and the “annealing moment” of doubt
Reading the excerpt below makes me think of how difficult yet rewarding it must be to peel and eat a durian, that strange fruit found only in southeast Asia, and guarded by not only a foul odor but a thick husk of thorns. The excerpt comes from an essay by the science fiction writer, literary critic, and teacher Samuel R. Delaney called "Of Doubts and Dreams." It's part of a collection of related essays by Delaney titled… Continue
Posted on September 10, 2009 at 7:30am — 5 Comments
Webcast on "reader sensitivity"
What's it take to be a good writer? How about a strangely named skill called "reader sensitivity"?
Taking my bad acting skills, even worse camera skills, and courage in hand, I've created 4 linked webcasts on this concept. I'm hoping to use these short videos to help writing students who come to me for individual lessons. Given that the videos are pretty rough and touch only a portion of what is a big subject, I would welcome comments & suggestions on how to make them better - you can priva… Continue
Taking my bad acting skills, even worse camera skills, and courage in hand, I've created 4 linked webcasts on this concept. I'm hoping to use these short videos to help writing students who come to me for individual lessons. Given that the videos are pretty rough and touch only a portion of what is a big subject, I would welcome comments & suggestions on how to make them better - you can priva… Continue
Posted on September 1, 2009 at 6:00am — 5 Comments
Making things up in nonfiction: Sara Wheeler and "poetic truth" vs. Richard Rhodes and the dull facts
We've had a few posts on this site about the question of whether it's OK to "make things up" when you're writing nonfiction - specifically, memoir.
Interestingly, at least one critically well-received travel writer thinks it is not only okay to make stuff up, it is a darn good thing. The writer in question is Sara Wheeler, author of such travelogues as Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica and… Continue
Interestingly, at least one critically well-received travel writer thinks it is not only okay to make stuff up, it is a darn good thing. The writer in question is Sara Wheeler, author of such travelogues as Terra Incognita: Travels in Antarctica and… Continue
Posted on August 20, 2009 at 7:24am — 4 Comments
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