Yes, that would be “Craft” with a C, not a K. Kraft Singles are the best though, make no mistake.

I remember writing a craft paper on Christopher Coake’s short story “All Through the House” (one of my all-time faves; it always reminds me of Harold Pinter’s brilliant play “Betrayal” as well) back in 2007 for a Fiction Forms workshop. One of the things I discussed in it is the difference between a movie and a piece of literature and the differences in the construction of each.

My parents are classic film buffs. It’s kind of a non-secret that my sister and I were both named after film stars from that era. I grew up watching movies, and wanting to be in movies, and wanting to direct movies. Eventually I think I realized film wasn’t really the medium for me; I needed something that was a bit more solitary. However, I still love films, often more than books, and I still love to make films in my head. I admire anyone who makes them for real because I think it’s a very difficult task. But what draws me to writing is the challenge. While making a movie, you have so many tools at your disposal: the lighting, the set design, costumes, music, editing, direction, all the nuances of acting. You can literally show and not tell. And people say this about good writing, that it shows, doesn’t tell. But you can’t really show anything it writing, you have to tell. Because all you have are words and blank sheets of paper, and somehow you have to tell. It’s the way you tell that makes the difference. You really have to be able to be manipulate words and sentence structure and be a genuine wordsmith.

I’ve been thinking about this lately because I have actually been writing (hallelujah!) and I’ve been struggling a little with the challenge. I don’t know how other people are, but when I’m writing, I’m reading it out loud, I’m seeing it happen like a movie, acting it out, the whole bit. Finding a way to invoke a certain feeling or emotion in the reader like they would experience if they were watching it unfold on screen is sometimes simple. At other times, it seems almost impossible. But that’s why I keep doing this, year after year, to make it possible for myself. I’ve been writing fiction since I was about 6 years old. Sometimes, I find myself a bit jaded by the whole process. Over the years, I’ve quit writing “forever” more times than I can count. But I’m obviously here to stay.

Before I forget again, because I realize I never posted about this, I want to thank the editors at Rougarou for nominating my story “What Goes Down, Must Come Back Up” for the Pushcart Prize and “Best of the Web” anthology last year! 2010 was definitely a great year for me. I hope to make 2011 even better, and I hope I’ll have some exciting news in the next few months! I keep saying I will blog about my list of favorite novels of all time, but I’m lazy. It’ll happen eventually.