Category: Shaking My Head
-
Post #19: Best of Lists and Middle Class White Guys
Here’s a couple of articles I found thought provoking. The first, by Roxane Gay, examines the “Best of…” lists that have become such a part of what establishes literary “excellence.” Gay makes a compelling case regarding their legitimacy and usefulness. http://therumpus.net/2011/12/toward-a-more-complete-measure-of-excellence/ The second is by Benjamin Hale, a writer who…
-
Post #18: Finish Lines
As I wrote my 50,000th word this month I was at a coffee shop alone. I’d gone in a few thousand short of my goal, ordered coffee and a peanut butter cookie, then set to work, vowing not to leave until I’d finished. I didn’t. A thrill went through me…
-
Post #17: Crawling Through the Nearest Window
Doing National Novel Writing Month is exhilarating. I think this is mostly because I’ve never written, outside of education, for a capital “D” Deadline and the need to complete X quantity by Y date is a utilitarian sort of enterprise that’s added a different timbre to this writing experience than…
-
Post #10: Not Sure How I Feel About This
My first literary love was Spenser. No, not the English poet. Robert B. Parker’s indefatigable Boston based P.I. who, since 1973’s The Godwulf Manuscript, has been wittily cleaning up Boston’s streets one asshole at a time. Parker, as you may know, died on January 18th, 2010 at 77, and I…
-
Post #7: National Novel Writing Month
I’m considering trying out National Novel Writing Month in November. The goal is to produce 50,000 words in a month. Only about 15% of those who try finish. I’m excited about it, but for reasons I can’t quite articulate, though they’ve already had me called a snob once (and counting),…
Benjamin Roesch 