Tag Archives: Writing

by | October 31, 2016 · 9:00 am

Creating Autumn

Posted by Lexi Sammler,  GD Creative Nonfiction Section Head for 5.1

Creating Autumn in Nature and WritingFrom a young age, I discovered the ability to lose myself in nature. I pride myself in stopping to smell the flowers, going on walks in the woods, and embracing the quiet sounds of nature.  Each step I have made through crunching leaves has allowed me to better myself as a writer. I have learned to appreciate and meditate in nature beyond the small creatures of the forest. I am thankful for all the green grass in my life, the cool breezes, and the reminder of my childhood that comes from stepping outside. Continue reading →

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by | October 21, 2016 · 12:07 pm

Laying the Groundwork: The Importance of Opening Lines in Crafting Atmosphere

Posted by Morgan Staub, GD Creative Nonfiction Reader for 5.1

“Not a wasted word. This has been a main point to my literary thinking all my life.” 

                        —Hunter S. Thompson

“Call me Ishmael.” “124 was spiteful.” “Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.” The literary nerds out there, such as myself, recognize that these opening sentences set the tone of the story to follow. Used to express tension, style, or character, these opening lines raise the bar of expectations for the narrative. While these lines are novel openings, the same can be said for short story openings, with the difference being that in the latter medium, there is less room to expand. When we write short stories, it is even more vital to use the first few lines of the story to set the tone for what will follow. 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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by | October 11, 2016 · 8:47 am

Writing and Cultural Appropriation

Posted by Joshua DeJoy, GD Creative Nonfiction Reader for 5.1

Lionel Shriver photo by Daniel Seed for The Guardian - Writing and Cultural Appropriation

Lionel Shriver photo by Daniel Seed for The Guardian

Can fiction authors write outside of their own experiences? To ask the question is to answer it: Of course! It’s fiction, isn’t it? 

At least, that’s what American-born novelist Lionel Shriver argued at the Brisbane Writers Festival on September 8 in her keynote address, “Fiction and Identity Politics,” which deals extensively with the concept of cultural appropriation.  I think her speech is worth reading in full, but I’ll attempt to summarize it: fiction writers have to use experiences outside of their own in order to write compelling fiction. “This is a disrespectful vocation by its nature—prying, voyeuristic, kleptomaniacal, and presumptuous. And that is fiction writing at its best,” Shriver says. Continue reading →

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by | October 4, 2016 · 1:00 pm

Finding Inspiration

Posted by Pam Haas, GD Poetry Reader for 5.1

As a writer, I’m constantly looking around for different sources to draw inspiration from. Recently, however, I’ve had a bit of a block. Every writer knows that feeling when the muse has abandoned them and nothing seems like poetry, or when the day feels too dreary and drippy to compose a satisfying painting. So to combat writer’s block for myself and anyone who may be similarly searching around for creative encouragement, I asked a few fellow student writers at SUNY Geneseo to respond to the question: Where do you get your inspiration from? This is what they have to say: Continue reading →

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by | August 16, 2016 · 4:04 pm

This Angel on My Chest: a Book Review

Posted by Erin Duffy, Public Relations Manager for issue 4.2 and CNF Editor for issue 4.1

2015 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Leslie Pietrzyk

2015 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner Leslie Pietrzyk

It might be somewhat hyperbolic to suggest that Leslie Pietrzyk’s newest collection defies literary classification, but there are few, if any, categories into which it seamlessly fits. This Angel On My Chest is a collection of unrelated short fiction pieces that read like a cohesive novel, and each story borrows so heavily from Pietrzyk’s personal experiences that it’s impossible to tell fact from fiction. It’s an oddball of a book that nevertheless elicits myriad emotions from the reader. Though at times emotionally draining, each piece – the whole book, in fact – is a masterwork of craft and an utterly raw exploration of grief. Continue reading →

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by | June 27, 2016 · 10:13 pm

Reread / Regret

Posted by Dan Pugh, Poetry reader for issue 4.2

inbox-unsendYou know that distinct feeling of saying something you immediately regret? The present act of speaking becomes a present tense emergency. Your own fumbled phrase floats forward in garish block letters; you fruitlessly grasp for their serifs. There’s this massive, obnoxious speech bubble hovering adjacent to your own errant mouth and grinning from within it, is a statement you don’t believe in. How did this happen? Things were fine a moment ago! Everyone was chatting and laughing and effortlessly improvising a moment ago! Yet, this moment you’re in a fragile stasis of self-realization: it’s too late to bite your tongue, and your foot’s blocking access anyway. Might as well put on your most endearing shame-face and brace yourself as the room gets a chance to notice you said that. Continue reading →

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by | May 23, 2016 · 4:42 pm

An Interview with Michael Sheehan

Posted by Katherine Jerabeck, Fiction reader for issue 4.2

Are you an English major, or aspiring writer, sick of future accountants telling you that you will never get a job? Fear not, Geneseo alumni and accomplished writer, Michael Sheehan, is here to prove that you can do what you love and make a living. Michael Sheehan graduated from Geneseo with an English (creative writing) degree, and is the author of Proposals for the Recovery of the Apparently Drowned and editor-in-chief of REAL literary journal. I spoke with Michael to find out some of his background on how he made his way from Geneseo to where he is now. Continue reading →

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by | April 27, 2016 · 10:55 am

What Makes a Good Writer?

Posted by Megan Tomaszewski, CNF reader for issue 4.2

myemotions_troyWho is a writer? According to Dictionary.com, a writer is “a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories etc., especially as an occupation or profession.” Merriam Webster Dictionary notes that a writer is “someone who has written something.” But are there any definitions out there for what makes a writer a good writer?

Working at Gandy Dancer this semester as a creative nonfiction reader has prompted me to reflect on the answer to this question a lot, especially when reading through submissions to accept or reject. While discussing submissions with my peers, I was captivated by the way our group would sometimes unanimously “no” a piece, whereas, other times, we would debate pros and cons back and forth. Sometimes, we’d all like or dislike a piece for similar reasons, sometimes for completely different ones.

It was a fascinating, engaging, and messy process unlike anything else that I’ve been a part of—a group of individuals with their own subjective tastes and backgrounds collectively deeming literary pieces as worthy of publishing is no easy feat.

Continue reading →

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by | February 11, 2016 · 2:55 pm

SUNY Geneseo Launches National Book Review Month

Posted by Nicole Sheldon, Creative Nonfiction Editor and Art Curator for Issue 4.2

With the spring semester in full swing the SUNY Geneseo campus is bustling with students who are finding that each day is busier than the last. It’s more than a week into February, and here at Geneseo Assistant Professor of English Lytton Smith, Editing and Production Manager Allison Brown, and I have launched National Book Review Month, or NaRMo, for the month of February.

get reviewing posterThe literary world celebrates events such as National Poetry Month and National Novel Writing Month, and we’ve set out to add National Book Review Month to the literary calendar. Book reviews are an often-overlooked part of the literary landscape, and many readers fail to recognize the value in reading and writing reviews. Reading a book review may give you that extra nudge to read that book you meant to indulge in over the summer. Or, perhaps reading a book review would have prevented you from abandoning the novel that wasn’t what you initially expected.

That’s the beauty of book reviews—they’re a way for readers to express their opinions about what they’ve read, and share their views with the rest of the literary world. Word of mouth is great when recommending a book—but publishing reviews online for readers all over the world to see is bound to have a greater impact. Continue reading →

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