The Kafka thread

The choice between writing “realism” or venturing into science-fiction and fantasy is often irrevocable, unless the writer can somehow follow the unique example of Franz Kafka.   by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Every fiction writer, often subconsciously, decides early in life whether to base his or her stories in the “real” world or to venture instead……

Read More

Why every author needs a gun catalog

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—Almost every male who grew up between—roughly—1960 and 1990 knows which cinema hero carried, tucked into a slim side-holster so as not to disturb the line of his suit, a Walther PPK.  As I thought about James Bond’s favorite pistol, I got curious about it and opened my Standard Catalog of……

Read More

The aggressive mind

There is a Jekyll & Hyde quality in the nature of a professional writer. In person, the writer seems not writerly at all. He or she can seem quiet, unassuming, even withdrawn. But to be effective, a good writer subsumes all self-doubt, conceals misgivings from the reader and writes with controlled aggression.   by David……

Read More

Seven Mutations of Recollection

by David Benjamin   “There’s a holdup in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights, “There’s a traffic jam in Harlem that’s backed up to Jackson Heights, “There’s a scout troop short a child, Khrushchev’s due at Idlewild! “Car 54, where are you?”   MADISON, Wis.—Occasionally, to test my memory, I try singing to myself……

Read More

Characterization in shades of gray

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—A growing phenomenon in film and TV entertainment, especially over the last quarter-century, is the morally vacuous villain, a badass so totally devoid of redeeming qualities that he or she is not character but caricature. This trend is manifest in the proliferation of films, and an entire studio—Marvel—rooted in comic books.……

Read More

The rabbit pellet in the caviar bowl

by David Benjamin MADISON Wis.—I’ve decided to end the year cathartically with a rant against one of my career-long nemeses, the literary agent racket. I recently remembered an exchange with an agent named Alice, whose name I won’t mention because these people are vindictive. Before sending Alice my query, I had researched her thoroughly. I……

Read More

Emotional distance and reader empathy

by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis.—At a book festival recently, I listened to a young author named Hannah who specializes in thrillers, a genre in which also I’ve worked. During the Q&A, a reader asked whether Hannah feels troubled while describing scenes of detailed cruelty or bloodshed.  Flatly, Hannah said “No.” She explained that, as a……

Read More

A portrait of the artist as a portrait of the artist

by David Benjamin  “Before I start a book, I’ve usually got four hundred pages of notes. Most of them are almost incoherent. But there’s always a moment when you think you’ve got a novel started. You can more or less see how it’s going to work out. After that, it’s just a question of detail.”…

Read More

Swimming the sea of metaphor

Fiction agnostics—readers who consume only non-fiction—tend to be unaware of how profoundly flights of imaginative fancy, have enriched their language and illuminated their lives.   by David Benjamin “A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. A robot must obey orders given it by……

Read More

To recur or not recur

Every writer’s cast of characters is finite. The sources of those characters begin in the many facets of the writer’s own self. The astute reader can often perceive the recurrence of character from story to story and appreciate the writer’s skill in drawing variation from repetition. by David Benjamin Sometimes, a recurring character can recur……

Read More