“I ask myself: Am I exposing information given to me in confidence? Am I writing to hurt, or to understand?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, author @marianazos.bsky.social offers insight on how to approach writing sensitively about one’s most intimate relationships. at.pw.org/NazosCC3
“When I say the anger has to ‘go somewhere,’ I mean it has to be transformed.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, poet @marianazos.bsky.social considers how metaphor can help metabolize anger. Read more: at.pw.org/NazosCC2
“How much or little memory I reveal directly relates to how specific information shapes the reader’s experience.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, @marianazos.bsky.social considers how one can morally bend the truth in poetry. at.pw.org/NazosCC1
What a pleasure to write these three #craftcapsule essays. Thanks, @pw.org!
“Your tongue will remember repeated words and recurring constructions in a way your eye might miss.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, @emilynemens.bsky.social, author of Clutch (@tinhouse.bsky.social) describes the rigorous line work that went into finishing her manuscript. at.pw.org/NemensCC3
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“Can we push up that peak to something closer to euphoria? What about when something bad happens: Might it be even worse, more devastating?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, @emilynemens.bsky.social reflects on adjusting rising and falling action across time in fiction. at.pw.org/NemensCC2
“I was trying to solve for that artificial feeling of scenes by manipulating the time signature of storytelling.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, @emilynemens.bsky.social, author of Clutch (@tinhouse.bsky.social) reflects on poetic time, dialogue, and writing effective scenes. at.pw.org/NemensCC1
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“I’m particularly drawn to the way form can add a kaleidoscopic function to a text allowing for new perspectives with every turn.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, brittny ray crowell considers the power of leveraging different media in poetry. at.pw.org/crowellCC3
“Who are we without the grace of small things, especially those that manage to somehow stand out in the cluttered archive of our memory?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, brittny ray crowell reflects on offering reverence to ordinary objects in poetry. at.pw.org/crowellCC2
“Poetry has become both a site of reverence and a kind of cultural linguistic archive.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, brittny ray crowell considers how memory can be mined for particular phrases and pronunciations to guide poetry. at.pw.org/crowellCC1
“When the experiential specifics of a body are centred as formal origin, what essayistic possibilities, intelligibilities, shifts, and slippages might ensue?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Lars Horn reflects on what a trans essay might look like. Read more: at.pw.org/HornCC3
“We use essays to traverse darkness, that of body, self, and world.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Lars Horn reflects on the ancient origins of the essay form. at.pw.org/HornCC1
“The long line inspires an extended throw of thought…. It asks for that voice of calm or resolve closest to the heart.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Garrett Hongo considers the lineage of his own loping lines and encourages poets to try them. at.pw.org/HongoCC3
“In my own practice, this blend of planning and improvisation often leads to poems that please me best.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Garrett Hongo considers the benefits of planning elements of a poem before its composition. at.pw.org/HongoCC2
“I believe writers must tap into the rhythmic silence of their own imagination.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Garrett Hongo reflects on the practice of poetry as one of both composition and listening. at.pw.org/HongoCC1
#FromTheArchive #CraftCapsule no. 23: Tayari Jones shares insights into building the protagonist of her novel, An American Marriage (@algonquin). “On the level of craft, it just didn’t work. For one thing, you can’t write a compelling novel about what someone doesn’t do.” at.pw.org/2BbSM6q
#FromTheArchive #CraftCapsule no. 51: Novelist Emma Copley Eisenberg celebrates the magic of reporting as a research tool: “You ask the right person the right question at the right time, and they’ll tell you something that has never before been told in the history of the world.” at.pw.org/IRL
#FromTheArchive #CraftCapsule no. 79: “Against Universality, in Praise of Anger” by poet Chen Chen. In this capsule, Chen Chen breaks expected form to explore the question “When the term universal comes up, ask: Whose universe?” at.pw.org/AgainstUniversality
#FromTheArchive #CraftCapsule no. 244: In “Writing on Grief: Robert Frost,” poet Ellen Bass reflects on the lessons Robert Frost offers us when writing about loss. Find an analysis of Frost's poem "Home Burial" and an accompanied writing prompt for your own poem. at.pw.org/4lunLwO
In today’s #CraftCapsule, no. 250, poet Mary Jean Chan explores what it means to write a self that “is in a perpetual state of becoming.” Read more: at.pw.org/queeringlanguage
In today’s #CraftCapsule, no. 250, poet Mary Jean Chan explores what it means to write a self that “is in a perpetual state of becoming.” Read more: at.pw.org/queeringlanguage
“How does one write queerly? Is it to unearth what often remains unsaid (due to fear) in light of existing societal norms?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mary Jean Chan considers what it means to estrange a familiar motif in one’s writing. at.pw.org/writingqueerly
“There was a sense of something I couldn’t yet name, a kind of covert intimacy...” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mary Jean Chan reflects on queer traces in literature. at.pw.org/readingqueerly
“I continued to write what felt truest, which was the tangled and messy gray space, uncomfortable as it was.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mackenzie Kozak explores what it means to write ambivalence. at.pw.org/Kozak3
“I know I am not alone in considering and questioning the life that I have chosen alongside the life that could have been and the life that will not be.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mackenzie Kozak considers the lineage of writers she belongs to. at.pw.org/Kozak2
“How can working within and against a form impact your message?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Mackenzie Kozak considers the value of both engaging with and refuting traditional poetry structures. at.pw.org/Kozak1
“He showed little of his grief directly in his work, but knowing what he experienced, it’s clear how much of it he transformed into art.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Ellen Bass reflects on the life and literature of Robert Frost, and the lessons writers can take from him. at.pw.org/grief3
“How do we write heart-wrenching absence and loss?” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Ellen Bass recommends writers reflect on painful experiences without naming the source of their pain. at.pw.org/grief2
“When we make art, we create order and we give our experience meaning.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Ellen Bass explores how writing can offer structure to the chaos and tumult of life. at.pw.org/grief1
“It turns out there’s a downside to knowledge.” In this week’s #CraftCapsule, Tamar Shapiro recommends writers refine their research and examine which details actually serve their characters and plots. at.pw.org/ShapiroCC3
