Tag Archives: Advice

by | July 18, 2018 · 12:27 pm

Titles Are Hard—But We Can Make Them Easier

Posted by William Antonelli, GD Fiction Reader for 6.2

Over the past few years, I’ve participated and had my work critiqued in countless writing workshops, each one varying in both content and usefulness. There’s only so much that university students, most of them amateur or beginning writers, can comment on in half an hour. Yet, if there’s one thing that’s been constant in every workshop I’ve attended, it’s this: when the time comes to comment on the work shopped piece’s title, everyone goes silent. Or, if they do speak up, it’s just to give a non-specific “I liked the title” or “I didn’t like the title.” Continue reading →

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by | April 11, 2017 · 10:30 am

Writing Advice from Idra Novey, Author of Ways to Disappear and Exit, Civilian

Posted by Kallie Swyer, GD Poetry Editor for 5.2, Former Contributor for 4.1 and 5.1

As a part of the Geneseo Literary Forum, translator, novelist, and poet Idra Novey came to our campus to discuss her books with in-class visits and a reading. I was lucky enough to be in one of the classes that she visited, where we got to discuss her latest novel Ways to Disappear,  and her recent poetry collection Exit, Civilian.  Continue reading →

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by | October 15, 2016 · 9:00 am

Finding a Voice Within Yourself

Posted by Giovanni Madonna, GD Fiction Reader for 5.1

Non-fiction has always been something of a gray zone for me because of how different it is from fiction. I’ve always loved the freedom that fiction allows, so when I entered into a non-fiction workshop this semester I was more than a bit intimidated. It was like having a smart phone and then suddenly having it taken away and replaced with one of those paper-thin flip phones that could do little more than call your parents. I started to wonder what I could write about, what would stick out, or be worth putting down. It took some time for me to realize I was asking the wrong questions. With nonfiction, it’s not a matter of finding the flashiest or most shocking events (though a good narrative could exist in those too), but about being willing and able to present yourself, your true self, to an unknown audience. And at the center of this necessary honesty is voice, the way the narrator sounds on the page and ultimately the unique personal lens that they present the essay through. Continue reading →

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