Episode 53: Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction

Memoir Snob

#Charlie Bleecker #Books #Arts #I Learned

44:09

When a young Eva Kollisch arrives as a refugee in New York in 1940, she finds a community among socialists who share her values and idealism. She soon discovers ‘the cause’ isn’t as idyllic as it seems. Little does she know this is the beginning of a lifelong commitment to activism and her determination to create radical change in ways that include belonging, love and one's full self. In addition to Eva Kollisch’s memoirs Girl in Movement (2000) and The Ground Under My Feet (2014), LBI’s collections include an oral history interview with Eva conducted in 2014 and the papers of Eva’s mother, poet Margarete Kolllisch, which document Eva’s childhood experience on the Kindertransport. Learn more at www.lbi.org/kollisch . Exile is a production of the Leo Baeck Institute , New York | Berlin and Antica Productions . It’s narrated by Mandy Patinkin. Executive Producers include Katrina Onstad, Stuart Coxe, and Bernie Blum. Senior Producer is Debbie Pacheco. Associate Producers are Hailey Choi and Emily Morantz. Research and translation by Isabella Kempf. Sound design and audio mix by Philip Wilson, with help from Cameron McIver. Theme music by Oliver Wickham. Voice acting by Natalia Bushnik. Special thanks to the Kollisch family for the use of Eva’s two memoirs, “Girl in Movement” and “The Ground Under My Feet”, the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College and their “Voices of Feminism Oral History Project”, and Soundtrack New York.…

acum un an 27:20

MP3•Pagina episodului

Here's what I learned from Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd:

-When writing memoir, never insert present knowledge about your past if it means condemning your past self or celebrating your present self.

-Avoid casual prose such as, "you know," or "bet you thought," or "ummm, hello?" This style of writing seeks instant intimacy with the reader. It's a style what wants to SEEM fresh and authentic but has the opposite effect.

-Don't be melodramatic! I cannot write that "I was homeless" because I was crashing on my friend's couch in between living situations. Just write what happened. Just write the facts.

-If you want to publish a book you don't need a marketing plan or a book proposal. You need 20-30 pages of good prose and a trusted agent's counsel.

51 episoade

Memoir Snob

Episode 53: Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction

Memoir Snob

published acum un an

Distribuie

MP3•Pagina episodului

Here's what I learned from Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd:

-When writing memoir, never insert present knowledge about your past if it means condemning your past self or celebrating your present self.

-Don't be melodramatic! I cannot write that "I was homeless" because I was crashing on my friend's couch in between living situations. Just write what happened. Just write the facts.

-If you want to publish a book you don't need a marketing plan or a book proposal. You need 20-30 pages of good prose and a trusted agent's counsel.

51 episoade

#Charlie Bleecker #Books #Arts #I Learned

All episodes

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 55: Happy To Help by Amy Wilson 29:19

acum 6 zile29:19

29:19

Here’s what I learned from Happy To Help: Adventures of a People Pleaser by Amy Wilson: -Include your fantasies. It’s especially funny if you can incorporate four levels in the build up to the punchline: First: set the scene—what’s about to happen Second: set the stakes—why is this a big deal Third: fantasy/a positive hypothetical of what’s to come Fourth: Dialogue/action of what actually transpired -Write a short and snappy analogy that has pronouns and alliteration: “It was like hiring Kidz Bop for a bachelor party.” -Include pronouns. Pronouns that are personal to you make the writing more compelling, specific, and yes, even funny: “I used to make fun of my husband for letting his perception of a good night's sleep be ruined by what his Whoop told him.”…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 54: Here After by Amy Lin 27:08

acum 17 zile27:08

27:08

Memoir deep dive #21 Here’s what I learned from Here After by Amy Lin: One way to treat your audience like a genius is to not say the next obvious thing. Where can I leave out what the reader already knows is coming? One approach to this: in every paragraph I write, where can I remove the last sentence? “I stare at the blank ceiling tiles and wonder when Kurtis will call me. I have so much to tell him.” Expressing negative feelings about a person’s appearance is funnier than directly expressing negative feelings about the person. “Also, I hate Michelle’s haircut.” When using Anaphora—which is repetition at the start of a sentence or clause—the last line should punch with specificity. “It is the only thing I feel able to do since he died. The only way I am able to say what it is like for me. The only place I can meet grief without being utterly consumed by it.” The most important place to leave out thoughts and feelings (and only show dialogue and action) is when I’m the most emotional. The angrier I feel, the less feelings should be put on the page.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 53: Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction 27:20

acum 5 weeks27:20

27:20

Here's what I learned from Good Prose: The Art of Nonfiction by Tracy Kidder and Richard Todd: -When writing memoir, never insert present knowledge about your past if it means condemning your past self or celebrating your present self. -Avoid casual prose such as, "you know," or "bet you thought," or "ummm, hello?" This style of writing seeks instant intimacy with the reader. It's a style what wants to SEEM fresh and authentic but has the opposite effect. -Don't be melodramatic! I cannot write that "I was homeless" because I was crashing on my friend's couch in between living situations. Just write what happened. Just write the facts. -If you want to publish a book you don't need a marketing plan or a book proposal. You need 20-30 pages of good prose and a trusted agent's counsel.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 52: Sandra Schnakenburg 59:20

acum 12 weeks59:20

59:20

Here’s what I learned from my conversation with Sandy Schnakenburg, author of The Housekeeper's Secret : When you’re writing about a tragic or shocking event, one way to create suspense is to tease that something bad is coming. In the book she had a terrible accident on her bike, and at the beginning of the chapter a character calls out and tells her to be careful riding to school. From there until the moment of the crash she slows down time by including the tiniest details and specifics surrounding the moment—what time she left, her route to school, who she was meeting, why she couldn’t be late, and that first period math was her favorite. She described the actual ride, the way she rode with no hands, and later how she stood up on the pedals. It took Sandy 14 years to write her book, and the structure changed from a book of essays, to a braided memoir, to a chronological, compressed timeline with a hook at the beginning pulled from the midpoint of the story. An editor helped her to remove 50,000 words and bring the reader more onto the page by removing her analysis of the scenes. Her editor said, “Leave it to the reader. Let them decide. Let them process what happened.” Sandy wrote a synopsis and summary of her book before it was ever finished. She sent the synopsis to an agent and he picked her up—just like that! She attended the San Francisco Writers Conference, where she pitched her book all day long to writers, editors, and agents. It was there she met her editor and book publisher. If you want to publish a book your story needs to have a universal theme. Once you have that and can really communicate that, then you need to figure out how to distribute it. Then you need a good publicist. (Sandy interviewed twenty-five publicists.)…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 51: Long Live The Tribe Of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden 37:22

acum 16 weeks37:22

37:22

Here’s what I learned from Long Live The Tribe Of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden: First lines should make the reader curious to read more. They can be surprising, specific, and/or present a conflict. It’s important to stay in moments longer by going deeper with details and going on tangents that add context. Write unsparingly about yourself to get the reader to root for you—without disclaimers. Write about complicated characters in your life by sharing stories that show their different sides.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 50: Still Life At Eighty by Abigail Thomas 16:59

acum 23 weeks16:59

16:59

Here’s what I learned from Still Life At Eighty by Abigail Thomas: Revealing the dark parts of yourself in writing makes those things less scary and less powerful. Simple, clear, no-frill writing can be just as powerful and moving as fancy prose. Lean into your style, whatever it may be. Sometimes writing can just be keeping a log of your feelings and experiences. It might not be something to publish now, but later, when you can look back at that time in your life and have rich details to include once you’ve had some separation from it. If you don’t know what to write about, write about what you’re struggling with. Rhythm is important: Print out what you’ve written in a different font so it looks like somebody else wrote it and read it out loud. When your voice goes dead, there’s either something hiding behind that sentence or it’s just boring. Memoir is not a place to get revenge or cast oneself as victim. Freelance Writing Direct podcast interview with Abigail Thomas…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 49: My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff 26:28

acum 30 weeks26:28

26:28

Here’s what I learned from My Salinger Year by Joanna Rakoff: How to write dialogue in a novelistic or cinematic way: Include details about the surrounding area. The weather, scenery, anything the characters interact with, other people in the room. This is especially useful at the start of the scene, and if/when the scene changes. When you add context for the reader it should relate to the dialogue before it. It can also help establish the relationship of the characters. There are three people to consider in a two-person conversation: the two people in the scene and the reader. Dialogue can be inside-baseball between the two characters even it’s unclear to the reader, but interjections by the writer can clarify and invite the reader into what’s happening. A scene should not end at the end of the conversation, but at a point when a character says something that transitions into the next scene. And here’s the link to Joanna’s conversation with Estelle Erasmus on Freelance Writing Direct.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 48: Sam Returns 33:53

acum 33 weeks33:53

33:53

Sam is back to discuss more marital arguments, though he insists they rarely argue while Charlie insists they argue plenty.

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 47: Modern Love 22:53

acum 37 weeks22:53

22:53

I submitted a personal essay to the New York Times weekly column, Modern Love. In this episode I talk about how I learned about the column, how I decided to submit an essay under my real name, and a little context for what the essay is about. References: 39 Submission Tips for Modern Love Estelle Erasmus interviews: Noah Michelson Joanna Rakoff Abigail Thomas Maggie Smith Cheryl Strayed…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 46: Three Sobriety Memoirs 24:29

acum 40 weeks24:29

24:29

Here’s what I learned from three sobriety memoirs: The Night of the Gun by David Carr: Interview the people from your past. It doesn’t have to be formal or recorded. It could be as simple as a text message to see what they remember about the event. This can accomplish three things: It’s a way to add more details into your story. It allows the person to feel like they’re a part of the process of writing it as opposed to feeling like it’s one-sided. It makes you, the writer, more relatable and reliable because you’re giving different perspectives. The Unexpected Joy Of Being Sober by Catherine Gray: Don’t break the fourth wall to manipulate the reader or try to get them on your side. Breaking the fourth wall should always be a statement, not a question. Option: Use sarcasm or let them in on a secret. We Are The Luckiest by Laura McKowen: Just tell the story and leave the reader out of it.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 45: Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp 36:51

acum 45 weeks36:51

36:51

Heres’s what I learned from Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp AND The Elements Of Eloquence by Mark Forsyth. Anaphora is when you start each phrase, sentence, or paragraph with the same word or words. But be careful: readers always remember the opening words but often forget the rest. So when using anaphora, be intentional about what you want to emphasize. Also, only using one word for the anaphora—as opposed to a phrase—is slightly less powerful but beautifully hypnotic. Epistrophe is when you end each phrase, sentence, or paragraph with the same word. Diacope is when a word or phrase is repeated after a brief interruption. Parataxis is short, clear, matter-of-fact sentences, often subject-verb, without conjunctions (think Hemingway). Knapp was selective with parataxis, using it when she wrote about the moment she found out her father died and again at the moment her mother died. In both instances, it was a shocking, cringey admission because she was drunk both times. Pleonasm is the use of unneeded words, sometimes repeating the exact same word, other times saying the same thing in a slightly different way. This can annoy readers, but when utilized for intentional redundancy can be quite effective and powerful.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 44: Writing Under A Pseudonym 26:18

acum 47 weeks26:18

26:18

Do you want to write under a pseudonym or not? I have been writing as Charlie Bleecker for over four years. If you want to give it a real go, commit to it for a year. Do my friends read my writing? No. Does my family read my writing? No. That is the whole point. If you care at all about growing your audience in a time span of less than 10 years, don’t do it. What about support? It’s nice to have your family and friends support you… That’s true. But give it time. You only need one or two people to support you in the beginning. I have SO much support now, and none of it comes from my friends or family, except for my husband. He is the one person in my life who knew about Charlie from the beginning. How to choose your name: Pick a name you like! One that’s easy to say and easy to spell and isn’t super common if you search it in Google.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 43: Life On Delay by John Hendrickson 51:56

acum 49 weeks51:56

51:56

Here’s what I learned from Life On Delay by John Hendrickson: On Structure: When you open with a big event, where something big is about to happen, it creates suspense. The opening is a pivotal moment. There was life before this moment, and then there’s life after. Around ¾ of the way through the book he comes back to this moment and finishes the story. The life-changing moment is only the beginning of the major changes to come for John (aka, the main character). The life changing moment, then, is a catalyst for change and growth. On the relationships with his family, namely his brother Matt: Adjectives are manipulative when describing the people you’re close to. Showing is always more compelling than telling. When writing about your past—especially your adolescence—the best way to evoke emotion out of the reader is to leave your feelings out of it, whether they were your feelings back then or your feelings now. The best way to introduce a main character in your story is through multiple stories about them. When introducing a character who you had or have a troubled relationship with, it’s important to write about them completely separate from you. So there should be stories that involve you AND stories that don’t involve you, so the reader can get a fuller sense of who this person is. Phrases I will never write in my own book: “I don’t blame them,” or “absolutely thrilled.” Other Notes: When jumping around to past, present, and future, it’s important to find ways of anchoring the reader and orienting them by letting them know where we are on the timeline, in relation to big events that have already occurred in the story. Freeze frame: when you’ve finally arrived at a big moment—in this book’s case, a hard conversation—one way to build suspense is to break up the dialogue by commenting on something else that’s happening at the same time. In this instance, John wrote about what was going on in his head simultaneously. On Endings: A powerful way to end is with a story. It doesn’t have to be fancy or clever. This was simple, abrupt, and beautiful. Here’s the link to Michael Dean’s video about the David Foster Wallace essay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbjup1xuo8Q&t=1s…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 42: How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart by David Foster Wallace 25:12

acum 51 weeks25:12

25:12

Here’s what I learned from How Tracy Austin Broke My Heart by David Foster Wallace: Rather than tell us how bad the memoir was, he lists eight (eight!) examples—all quotes from the book. Later, he explicitly tells us how bad TV interviews of top athletes are, then gives two very long and detailed back-to-back examples to make his point. The best memoirs are written by writers, and celebrity memoirs are trash.…

Memoir Snob

1
Episode 41: My Fair Junkie by Amy Dresner 37:34

acum 1 year37:34