Writing is a type of freedom. It allows us to choose which portions of the world to highlight and which ones we want to discard. Telling stories also forces us to create boundaries. We can’t focus on everything, can’t follow the lives of every single character, can’t describe the layer of dirt on every doorstep. Instead… Continue reading What It Means to Tell a Story: On Susan Sontag and Writing
Lately, more so than usual, I’ve been creating stories about the people I don’t know. I’ve always done this to some extent. Many writers do. We look at the world around us, and tell stories to tie it all together. But I’ve been doing it more and more frequently. Behind my apartment, there is a… Continue reading Telling Stories about Strangers
Sometimes myths aren’t simply stories told around a campfire in the dark of night. Sometimes they are personal. In honor of the approach of All Hallows’ Eve and All Saints’ Day, I want to share a spooky bit of folklore that is in some small way a part of my history. In the 16th century, a… Continue reading Legends and the Devil in a Name
For those of you with a short story ready for publication, StoryQuarterly, a literary magazine out of the University of Rutgers-Camden, is holding its sixth annual Fiction Prize. The winner of the prize will receive $1000, and the top 3 entrants will be published in an upcoming edition of the magazine. Fiction up to 6250 words… Continue reading Writing Contest: StoryQuarterly’s Fiction Prize, $1000 Award
Fairy tales have carved their way into the contemporary zeitgeist. Even if people don’t remember all of the plot points in “Thumbelina”, “The Princess and the Pea”, or “The Little Mermaid”, they recognize the names and themes from them. But fairy tales have a long history. They developed long before the Disney Renaissance of 1989-1999 and… Continue reading Free Online Course on Fairy Tales
Kristen Twardowski 