Writing

by David Benjamin We remember one of the last century’s literary immortals, J.D. Salinger, by one great novel, The Catcher in the Rye, ten short stories and a few insignificant novellas. He apparently stopped writing anything 45 years before he died. It’s conceivable that, while living all that time in seclusion somewhere in New Hampshire,……

by David Benjamin While reading one of Louis Bayard’s historical mysteries, The Pale Blue Eye, I paused to highlight a line and, as I did so, thought about the writer’s ability (or inability) to weave imagery, sound and sensation into a linear narrative, ideally without divertting the story’s flow. Bayard’s line reads, “Her petticoats always……

by David Benjamin Before the liberating moment when I forsook the quest for a new literary rep, I pitched to one prospective agent a novel called The Voice of the Dog. I got a swift brushoff from the guy’s assistant, whose most salient comment—although obtuse—was: “I just can’t seem to go for animal protagonists. It……

by David Benjamin Recently, during a book talk, a reader asked a question that stumped me for a moment. “When you start a novel,” he asked, “do you concentrate on plot or character development?” After a pregnant pause, I chose “plot” and bumbled my way through an explanation of how characters tend to be exposed……

Relatability is an objective not common to all serious writers. There are snobs amongst us. But the ability to evoke the spirit of everyman—or everywoman—can be a powerful bond between author and audience. by David Benjamin   Surprisingly, it’s not the aspiration of every serious writer to “engage” with readers. There are authors whose target……

by David Benjamin It’s not true that reading a book is always time well spent. This only applies to good books. There’s a lot of crap out there. Herewith, a few hints about how to sniff out bad prose before you’ve wasted too much time. Since I became a bibliophile, early in my grammar-school days,……

by David Benjamin Even before I thought I’d earned the right to call myself a writer, I had heard more than one teacher or mentor refer to my output as “prolific.” I wrote a lot. I might well have served as an illustration of the theory that an infinite number of monkeys banging away at……

Every writer, nowadays, has to ponder the prospect—and the odds—of making an “elevator pitch,” for a price, to a jaded literary agent. The element absent from this exercise in authorial speed-dating is a set of criteria by which the agent will judge the worthiness of the author and the appeal of the pitch. by David……

How is a novel in progress like an unfinished sculpture in bronze? The similarity lies in the gruntwork that follows a burst of inspiration and the molding of the narrative. by David Benjamin During my Boston days, I made friends with a sculptor from New Hampshire, Allen Taylor, who worked in a technique known as……