Month: February 2011

Paul Taylor's words are clear and cutting, without any of the posing or framing that we see in either Lange's photographs or Agee's prose. It is with an air of professionalism that he describes the scenes in which he and his wife find themselves, the issues that crop up in the tangle of human beings … Continue reading Second reading: Lange and Taylor →

Bell included a delightful adage in her book: "Writers like the sight of their handwriting like a man likes the smell of his own farts" (this is paraphrased, but I just love that idea!). I wonder if it's the same thing with voice; when you read aloud, you get distracted by the sound of your … Continue reading Conference →

Micro editing is my strength. I will happily spend hours going through a document, playing with sentences to change emphasis and tweaking details. So it was not difficult for me to micro edit my Holocaust essay: in fact, I'd already worked a lot of tiny kinks out of the material. What was really helpful about … Continue reading Micro Editing Workshop →

Bell's book is inspiring. Every bit of advice makes me want to run to the chipped mug that holds my pens and pull out a red one, so that I can simultaneously underline things I don't want to forget, and go to town on my story: analyzing characters' intents, looking for sagging points and uncovering … Continue reading I love you Bell →

His eyes are dark pits in his head, white fading to grey darkening to impenetrable black, and there is worry in the lines under his eyes, between his brows. But looking at him, you know he is strong. He is tired and anxious, but in the proud bearing of his head, the hollow in his … Continue reading Dark Pits →

A few weeks back, I read "Reading While Writing." I'm not sure why: I'm not the sort that reads assigned text for fun, or tries to get ahead of the game by reading texts in advance. Something about the author's writing style, his ability to playfully unwrap the many layers of reading and writing that … Continue reading Reassurance and Responsibility →

I didn't realize whom Dorothea Lange was, or that I might even recognize any of her work, until I typed her name into Google images hoping to come up with a picture of Dorothea herself. My eyes immediately fell on the worry worn woman, with her furrowed eyebrows and tight lips, and a great "ohh" … Continue reading The Life and Lies of Dorothea Lange (And Her Less Renowned Husband) →

Paul Taylor seems significantly less famous than his wife and partner, Lange. Although both fought fiercely for what they believed in, Lange's passion pushed her past her husband into fame. Taylor began his life in Sioux City, Iowa in 1895. He had a mysterious childhood-- one that could not be pried into on the Internet … Continue reading And the Life of Paul Taylor →

I didn't realize who Dorothea Lange was, or that I might even recognize any of her work, until I saw the cover of the book Dorothea Lange: A Photographer's Life. Then I looked at the picture of the worry-worn woman, her tight-lipped smile, her wrinkled forehead and said "Ohhh." So it is with much more … Continue reading The Life of Dorothae Lange →

It would be a long and arduous process if a writer were to try to label every part of a sentence she were scribbling down, and it would very likely interrupt the creative process. But then again, I don't have a mathematical mind and so can't see the benefit of dissecting sentences. While I'm writing, … Continue reading Grammar →