Now that I’m older I’m sometimes approached by a young writer looking for a “mentor”; or trying to sell his or her books. And I’m always faced with a dilemma: do I tell them the truth, hoping that they’ll use it to fine-tune their craft, or do I praise them and move on. I remember … Continue reading Mentoring young writers
Tag: writing-tips
The Power of Story II
Recently I attended the Global Anti-apartheid Conference for Palestine (10-12 May) in Johannesburg, South Africa, as part of a delegation from our local writers association. There was a workshop dedicated to the topic “changing the narrative”, a subject deemed necessary because negative stories were circulating about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, for example, that the Palestinians were … Continue reading The Power of Story II
“Voice” in writing
During the MA Creative Writing degree at Rhodes University a few years ago they asked us to read widely. The aim of it, the lecturers explained, was to identify where your interest and talent lay as a writer. Ideally you would discover what type of fiction you wanted to write in order to find your … Continue reading “Voice” in writing
Show and tell
Recently my old supervisor asked me to look at a collection of short stories. The student had been deemed to be “weak”, and asking an outside reader was an attempt to get a fresh insight. I read the student’s portfolio and right from the start his work had garnered comments like “too much explanation”, etc. … Continue reading Show and tell
Cornelia Smith Fick 