Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Entry # 161 – "Telling Secrets: Silas House's Essay”

I read a thoughtful essay in The New York Times on Sunday, July 14, 2013.


The essay, Tell Their Secrets by Silas House, is now online at nytimes.com/opinionator and it is an interesting essay for readers and writers. House says…
 
“We have to think about all the things that make people endlessly fascinating. Their quirks, their body language, their histories, their beliefs. Then we articulate all of that on the page, giving the most important parts when we first meet them, going on to weave even more fascinating facets throughout the rest of the text."

“Above all, give us characters we will carry with us after meeting them. Give us people we will remember as if they were real. The books that have meant so much to us are the ones populated by characters like that, characters who resonate because they epitomize our own hopes and struggles and stories.”




Silas House, the author of five novels, a work of nonfiction and three plays, teaches at Berea College and Spalding University’s M.F.A. program in creative writing.


House's newest novel slated for release August 11th, is Same Sun Here and I plan to read it.
House writes – “Show us how a character pines - to reveal how he ticks. …Writers ‘shape’…characters by revealing their deepest secrets.”

Yes. I liked this essay, Jan says.

About Jan Bowman

Jan Bowman’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review, Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97), Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes and others. Glimmer Train named a recent story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New Writers. Winner of the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, her stories have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short Stories, a Pen/O’Henry award and a recent story was a finalist in the 2013 Phoebe Fiction Contest; another was a 2012 finalist in the “So To Speak” Fiction Contest. She is working on two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed story collection. She has nonfiction publications in Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews with writers and publishers.   Learn more at www.janbowmanwriter.com or


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