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October 25, 2011
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Writing about a living subject, Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs and Walter Isaacson (Credit: Getty Images)
For two weeks I've been trying desperately to find time to pull together two articles I've sworn to post: the follow-up post I promised on organizing research (no, haven't forgotten) and a version of a lecture I gave on 10/17/2011 about using detective work to reconstruct crucial events and scenes.
Till then, if you need an excuse to avoid writing for an hour or so, you can listen to the original here, including a Q&A session that raised some of those tough questions I think are the best way to get valuable feedback and hone one's writing skills. (Hot tip: Never ask your mother to read the first draft. Whatever she says, it's not going to be what you need to hear.)
If you need a different or shorter excuse, (more…)
October 12, 2011
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Gray (Beverly), Film Biography, Interviewing, Research, WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA (feature)
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" invites experienced biographers and narrative nonfiction writers to hold forth, in an article or just in a couple of sentences, on some useful solution they've found for coping with any major challenge of the writing life. What resonates with you? Tell the rest of us by posting a comment.
Below, Beverly Gray, a film biographer, shares a list of ten things to remember when writing a biography.
Ten Tips for Writing Biography:
• In starting out, scour your life for a subject you are in a unique position to explore. When writing a biography, consider making your own relationship with the central figure a part of the story. My first book delved into the life of a movie producer who had been my longtime boss. A few anecdotes drawn from our interaction over the years effectively shed light on key aspects of his psyche. (more…)
October 5, 2011
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Biography, Gordon (Lyndall)
Lyndall Gordon
Lyndall Gordon is known for literary biographies that focus on her subjects' inner lives and creative impulses. (Disclosure: Gordon's most recent book, LIVES LIKE LOADED GUNS: Emily Dickinson and Her Family's Feuds, is about the poet who was responsible for enabling my subject, Sara Bard Field, to finally discover her own poetic voice.) (more…)
October 1, 2011
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Schiff (Stacy)
Stacy Schiff
• Looking for a subject? Read CLEOPATRA biographer Stacy Schiff on the perfect biography subject. Her next project: the Salem witch trials. Wow. Talk about a tough bunch to interview.
(more…)
September 22, 2011
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Shields (Charles J.), WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? (feature), Blogging and Social Media
What's the best idea you've had for coping with a major challenge of the writing life?
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" invites experienced biographers and narrative nonfiction writers to hold forth, in an article or just in a couple of sentences, on some useful solution they've found for coping with any major challenge of the writing life. What works for you? Share it with the rest of us by posting a comment below.
Charles J. Shields on Blogging
Most publishers these days want authors to cultivate an online presence to attract readers (a "platform," in publishing jargon). (more…)
September 14, 2011
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Biography, SARA AND ERSKINE
(Credit: Hayward Public Library)
For me, nothing about writing biography is more difficult than remembering that I'm tracking the long, slow evolution of a human being. (Two human beings, actually: in a sense, Erskine is as important to SARA AND ERSKINE as Sara herself; maybe more, in some ways.) Which means that the elephant (more…)
September 8, 2011
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Writing process
A spiral galaxy giving birth to stars (NASA)
First-time biographers often assume they have to complete all their research before writing anything. But since the writing process itself always generates new ideas, a nonfiction writer can always find more research to do.
Case in point: A long time ago, (more…)
July 31, 2011
Tags:
Shields (Charles J.), WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? (feature), Daily Grind
What's the best idea you've had for coping with a major challenge of the writing life?
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA?" invites experienced biographers and narrative nonfiction writers to hold forth, whether in an article or just a couple of sentences, on the most useful solution they've found for coping with one major challenge of the writing life. What works for you? Share it with the rest of us by posting a comment below.
Charles J. Shields: "Chop Wood, Carry Water."
A student seeking enlightenment asks the master, "How shall I go about it?"
The master answers, "Chop wood, carry water."
"And then when I achieve enlightenment—what then?"
"Chop wood, carry water."
I take this advice to mean that there's nothing but the work. I find I can't (more…)
July 26, 2011
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ARTICLE POSTINGS, Co-authoring, DAUGHTER OF PERSIA, Farman Farmaian (Sattareh), Finding Our Voice (article posting), Voice
"Voice" is the instrument with which a writer tells the story. For a biographer, as for other writers of narrative, feeling confident that one has found "the right voice" is vital for having the authority and conviction necessary to narrate the life story of another human being.
But voice is hard to define. It's not (more…)
July 19, 2011
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BIO Conference, Caro (Robert), Place, Setting, Surround
Robert Caro.
Speaking of the power of place, no one knows more about that than Robert Caro, who appeared at the 2011 Compleat Biographer Conference luncheon to accept this year's BIO Award for his contributions to the art and craft of biography in his books on (more…)
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Click here to listen to a talk on SARA AND ERSKINE, AN AMERICAN ROMANCE and how the biographer tracks the clues to the life of the heart.
The disciple of a famous sculptor came upon his master carving an elephant from a huge, shapeless chunk of stone. "Master," cried the disciple, "What splendor! What realism! What insight! How do you do it?" "Simple," replied the sculptor. "You just cut away everything that isn't elephant."
This blog is about creating an elephant from a chunk of stone, a.k.a. writing a biography, which is reconstructing someone's life from research. It's also about the writing life itself (well, my life, anyway) and a work in progress entitled SARA AND ERSKINE, AN AMERICAN ROMANCE, which is an intimate reconstruction of the life of SARA BARD FIELD, a World War One-era minister's wife, suffragist, and poet, and her extraordinary affair with the outspoken attorney, philosophical anarchist, and Renaissance man CHARLES ERSKINE SCOTT WOOD.
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Notice of Copyright: All material on this website copyright © 2005-2011 by Dona Munker, except where expressly stated or contributed by others. Copying, altering, or reproducing this material in any form without written permission is prohibited by law and may be prosecuted regardless of the venue or purpose of the copying.
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