A Writer's Moment: 'Every world has its rules'

A Writer's Moment: 'Every world has its rules':   “So many people think that if you're writing fantasy, it means you can just make everything up as you go. Want to add a dragon? Add a ...

'Every world has its rules'

 

“So many people think that if you're writing fantasy, it means you can just make everything up as you go. Want to add a dragon? Add a dragon! Want some magic? Throw it in. But the thing is, regardless of whether you're dealing with realism or fantasy, every world has rules. Make sure to establish a natural order.” – V. E. Schwab

 

 Born in California in July of 1987, Schwab is best known for her Shades of Magic series, her longtime bestseller Vicious, and 2025’s Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil, which topped both the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists.  And, Victorious is this year’s offering in her popular Villains’ series. 

 

The daughter of a British mom and “Beverly Hills” dad, she is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis where she studied everything from Physics to Film to Art History and English and started her writing career.  While still in college, she sold her debut novel, The Near Witch, to Disney.  But it was 2011’s Vicious that established her as a leading popular writer.

 

The prolific Schwab’s three dozen books and many short stories have received critical acclaim and been translated into more than a dozen languages.  Many also have been optioned for TV and Film.  She said she loves writing across genres and for all ages.   

 

“I think a lot of writers are tempted to add complexity by over-complicating things,” she said.  “But always remember that most natural rules/laws are, at their core, simple. Start simple, and build from there, or you risk getting yourself and your readers tangled.”

A Writer's Moment: Sharing 'everyday hopes and dreams'

A Writer's Moment: Sharing 'everyday hopes and dreams':   “I always tell students that writing a poem and publishing it are two quite separate things, and you should write what you have to write, ...

Sharing 'everyday hopes and dreams'

 

“I always tell students that writing a poem and publishing it are two quite separate things, and you should write what you have to write, and if you're afraid it's going to upset someone, don't publish it.” –  Wendy Cope

 

Born in England in July of 1945, Cope writes lighthearted, award-winning poetry beloved by a wide following of adults and children alike.  Her latest works are Collected Poems and The Orange and Other Poems, both from 2024.  Cope has been lauded for her poems about everyday English life and the hopes, dreams and frustrations of children.   For Saturday’s Poem here is Cope’s,

                                   The Orange

At lunchtime I brought a huge orange –

The size of it made us all laugh.

I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave –

They got quarters, and I had a half.

 

That orange, it made me so happy,

As ordinary things often do

Just lately.  The shopping.  A walk in the park.

This is peace and contentment.  It’s new.

 

The rest of the day was quite easy,

I did all the things on my list

And enjoyed them, and had some time over.

I love you.  I’m glad I exist.

A Writer's Moment: "Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, lo...

A Writer's Moment:  "Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, lo...:   "Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, locates importance and, though its methods are as mysterious as they are varied, inten...

 

"Good fiction reveals feeling, refines events, locates importance and, though its methods are as mysterious as they are varied, intensifies the experience of living our own lives." – Vincent Canby

 

Born in Chicago on July 27, 1924 Canby had the distinction of being both the chief film critic AND the chief theater critic for The New York Times – the only person to ever do so.  As film critic he reviewed more than 1,000 films and he did the hundreds of theater reviews, right up until his death in 2000.

  

He was such a respected writer and reviewer that Bob Hope requested that Canby write his obituary, but Canby died first.  However, he still received the byline on Hope’s story since he had crafted most of it prior to his own death, and Times’ editors didn’t think it could be topped. 

 

Canby’s career was highlighted in an award-winning film For the Love of Movies:  The Story of American Film Criticism, and he also turned his writing into plays and novels authoring the well-received  novels Living Quarters and Unnatural Scenery, and plays like End of the War and The Old Flag, a drama set during the Civil War.  But it was film that he loved best.

 

“Through the magic of motion pictures,” he said, “someone who’s never left Peoria knows the softness of a Paris spring, the color of a Nile sunset, the sorts of vegetation one will find along the upper Amazon and that Big Ben has not yet gone digital.”

A Writer's Moment: 'Distilling the action into a tasty tale'

A Writer's Moment: 'Distilling the action into a tasty tale': “A good story cannot be devised; it has to be distilled.”  – Raymond Chandler   Born in Chicago on July 23, 1888 Chandler started his wr...