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
visit blog: http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com
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