Basic Skills, Genre, and Fiction as Dream
Onto Chapter 2 of John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction. We begin with Gardner’s opinions about grammar, and our opinions about those opinions. Then we move on to his definition of genres and the great importance of “verisimilitude.”
Aesthetic Law and Artistic Mastery
We’re starting our first book – John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction. Let’s find out why writing instructors and bloggers keep recommending it to aspiring writers. We’ll try to figure out what Gardner means by aesthetic law and if the literary cannon is worth a read, and we’ll...
What’s on our bookcase?
Welcome to Words to Write by – a podcast where we discuss, chapter by chapter, those wonderful writing craft books purchased with the best of intentions but now gathering dust on the bookshelf.
Interest and Truth
Moving along to Chapter 3 in The Art of Fiction. We go to war over the various dichotomies that (what Gardner claims) make good fiction, his weird beef against experimental fiction–or what he calls “intellectual toys,” and why he chose a weird moment in Helen of Troy to serve...