David Mamet, executive producer of CBS’s drama The Unit, wrote a memo to the writers on the show. While his memo focuses on writing for television, much of the advice is applicable to writers in all fields. This memo can be found at this link and was also quoted on the Longstockings blog.

Mamet’s main message is that to create drama, you have to show rather than tell. He writes: “The job of the dramatist is to make the audience wonder what happens next: not to explain to them what just happened or to *suggest* to them what happens next.” In other words, the writer’s job is to write the stinkin’ scene, not tell us what happens in the scene or what’s going to happen.

He continues: “Any time two characters are talking about a third, the scene is a crock of sh*t. Any time any character is saying to another ‘as you know’ that is, telling another character what you, the writer, need the audience to know, the scene is a crock of sh*t.”

This advice is especially apt for fantasy or sci-fi writing. In these genres (the former of which I am currently attempting as my master’s thesis), a world exists that the writer knows inside and out, but the reader is discovering it for the first time. The temptation is almost irresistible to have characters over-explain the rules of their world in dialogue or narration, but doing so would kill the drama of the story.

It all comes down to this: trust that your readers are smart and have faith that they will trust you, the writer, to show them what they need to know in due time. And remember that writing does not reside in dialogue alone; stage directions and description can do as much showing as do the words spoken by the characters.

As Mamet says: “If you pretend the characters can’t speak, and write a silent movie, you will be writing great drama.”

I don’t care if you like poetry or not; if you’re a writer, you must read this book. I can tell what you’re thinking just from looking at the title. “This must be one of those warm-and-fuzzy books,” you say. I say sure, it’s like a warm cup of tea you snuggle up with on a snowy day, but we’re talking some serious tea here. Something super-caffeinated, like mate herb. This isn’t just a “get in touch with your inner-artist-child” sort of book. This book means business.

Ordinary Genius is a combination of analysis and craft. Unlike most books about writing, where you have to work your way in small chunks and do each exercise, you could read this book through to the end as though it were a novel.

Addonizio’s approach has changed how I look at poetry. I used to have a strong distaste for poetry. I think the reason was that while good poetry reverberates in the soul, bad poetry is just atrocious.

After all, many people think
if you stick a few line breaks into
prose, it turns into poetry
like magic.

At the same time, though, I have always had a tremendous respect for anyone who attempts this genre, since I find it so challenging. This book breaks poetry down to the building blocks, helping me understand what makes one poem sing and another fall flat. Addonizio gives micro-assignments that serve almost more like meditations than poetry exercises. This book is about doing an honest day’s writing, about doing the work.

At the same time, though, Addonizio doesn’t guilt her readers into writing (as some writing books tend to do). She doesn’t give word minimums or time requirements. The book is approachable. Friendly. It makes you want to wake up and write every day without telling you that you must.

In the end, Ordinary Genius has opened my eyes to the gracefulness of language,the beauty of gesture. Thanks to this little book, I have fallen in love with language all over again.

Hello friends and welcome to the reboot of the blog formerly-known-as “Swim Against the Grain.” This is a new-and-improved blog by yours truly (gabi), and my trusty sidekick iggi. Or am I iggi’s sidekick…?  No one will ever know.

As graduation from my MFA program crept closer to the present, I realized that this blog needed more structure, more focus, more direction. Here’s my plan:

Mondays, we’ll have book reviews. Since my middle grade and teen literature is my obsession, reviews will most likely focus on books in those categories, though I will probably also throw in books on writing and some grown-up novels for good measure.

Tuesday will be all about tips and news. I realized that I need to be more aware of what’s happening in the publishing world and the writing world at large. What better way to stay informed than to blog about it? Tuesdays will force me to branch out beyond my own little bubble and connect with the writing world.

Wednesdays, I will post from my weekly Writing Challenge. The challenge is simple: I choose a writing exercise, I do it, I blog about the experience. I will work my way through an entire book of exercises and let you know which ones are good, which ones are bad, and which ones are just plain ugly.

Thursday will be iggi’s Rants and Raves day. That’s right, once a week I’ll let out my inner gabi gone insane and let her blog about whatever is on her mind.

Funtabulous Friday will be a surprise.

Weekends may mean some occasional wild card posts but for the most part, this will be a weekday blog. After all, a girl’s gotta do her own writing too.