November 21st, 2011%
Goodbye Love draft annotated for an author reading
Reading a story outloud changes the way it was written as much as grinding your own coffee changes the way your coffee tastes. Experience heightens awareness.
I read Goodbye Love, an unpublished monologue, at the 2011 Tin House Summer Writer’s Workshop student readings because I wanted to feel what it would be like to be this character and tell this story.
I wanted to tell it really slow as if the character was editing her memory of the event before she spoke. If I did it right, it would feel like a poem and the audience would experience some discomfort as the character finished the story.
I . . . → Read More: Acting Like a Writer
November 2nd, 2011%
Whenever I’ve written dialogue by a non-American, I’ve primarily focused on the rhythm of their speech to approach a comfortable accuracy.
Certain words sound like punctuation, even in the middle of a sentence. Repetitive words hint at lazy spots in thinking, which become parenthesis for the actual intent or meaning. Volume can be erratic and modulate based on comfort rather than emphasis on meaning.
However, certain rules may apply when the dialogue hits the page. For example, a friend from Sweden sent me an e-mail, in English, with the following explanation because he used the word “forever” which Swedes type as one word in English.
There is a . . . → Read More: Riff Dialogue Written Appropriately
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