Don’t get me wrong: I think reading, responding, and critiquing the work of others is important. It was important to me as an undergraduate because deconstructing the work of others was a great way to figure out my own narrative weaknesses and begin to find ways to shore up my own shaky bits. That was even more true as I pursued my MFA in Creative Writing; there was no shortage of “even better” things to learn from “even better quality” stories. Even now–even as a MASTER of t

Here is the run-down of my reading list for September: The End of the Affair, by Graham Greene – Greene’s masterpiece is both hauntingly beautiful and tragic. It was the sort of book I both didn’t want to read and couldn’t put down–at once painful and lovely. Poems of Jerusalem and Love Poems, by Yehuda Amichai – A lovely collection that preserves both the original Hebrew and provides gorgeous English translations. So many little nuggets of beautiful language and feeling. Bir

A long weekend followed by a productive Tuesday and BOOM…here it is, already the 5th of September and I haven’t posted my monthly recap of the books I read for August. Without further ado (which is a phrase full of its own ado) here’s last months list: Veronica, by Mary Gaitskill – A story of friendship between an aging, former model and an HIV+ office worker, told in that prose-morphs-to-poetry way that Gaitskill is so good at. This is a complex read, and in places I found i

Yes, I intentionally provided you with a provocative headline in order to get you to read. Haha! Really though, we are almost half-way through July and I’ve yet to offer a single blog post? Yeesh! I just wrapped up teaching two six-week writing classes: Legacy Writing and Fiction Writing Basics. I had a blast. I met some great fledgling writers. I really enjoyed teaching the subject matter. But, man, did it zap me, as far as having energy for my own writing. That changes, rig

New York City. We were watching a movie last night, (Man on a Ledge, not that it matters for the purposes of this blog) and it occurred to me that other than a few places I’ve lived, I’ve probably seen more of New York City than I have of any other place on the earth. Movies and TV shows and documentaries and books and books of photos. Boxes of comics books. Maps and satellite images in the time after 9/11 when I was attempting to understand a bit more of the geography. All t

Next week, I begin teaching two 6-week classes on writing and as I prepare for the classes, I’ve been reviewing several text books and resources about writing. One of the books I’ve spent a lot of time with is Janet Burroway’s Writing Fiction. I’ve been re-reading sections of this book, first introduced to me in 1994 or so. (My copy is the 3rd Edition…I think she’s on #5 or #6 by now.) <img class="size-full wp-image-960 lazyload" title="IMG_0814" src="https://ericswyatt.files

Here’s what I read this month: The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins – Yep. I gave in. The book was better than the movie, but I liked the movie pretty well. No. It isn’t a high-level, hyper-literary book. It doesn’t have to be. The plot is straightforward, but interesting. The characters are sympathetic. The world of the novel is full of intrigue. I’ll be reading the other two books of the trilogy in the coming months. (I promised I’d pace myself, not get too wrapped up in th

I’m not naturally a person who reads a book multiple times or watches the same movie over and over. There are too many things I haven’t read, too many movies I’ve not yet seen, to spend large amounts of time re-hashing things I’ve already digested. (There are some exceptions, but they are few and far between.) As a substitute teacher, I’ve been in a couple of situations that helped me understand two key concepts for emerging writers. Repetition is Key to Understanding The fir

Yeah I was a south bound child Yeah I had a small town life But I turned out alright in the north Livin’ that southern kind of life -Kasey Chambers, Southern Kind of Life There have been times when I’ve described myself as having “Southern Sensibilities”, especially when it comes to my writing. Having lived now in two states that are South, but not–strictly speaking–Old South, and having ancestral roots in the Bluegrass State, I’ve had some time to ponder some of my Southern

I had big plans for the summer. I really did. After I left the May writing residency at Queens University of Charlotte, this is what I planned to accomplish: Deep revision of the first 1/3 of my novel (Chapters 1-5 as it now stands) Finish first draft of the second 1/3 of the novel (it is about 80% written, but needs a lot of work, and a lot of “connections” work…) Edit and finish two short stories workshopped at the May residency and ready them for submission to literary mag

A year ago, I resurrected my old brand, Ernst Wiley Publications, in order to publish and promote a book about the political and economic turmoil of 2008 and in anticipation of deepening economic woes in 2009/2010. It was an interesting year. I sold some books, made new friends, spoke in front of large crowds, did a radio interview, received some kind reviews, and generally enjoyed the process. As I write this, my first blog under the title Stories I Read, Stories I Tell, I a