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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1745 followers · 6201 posts · Server zirk.us

This craft column is about Susy Yang's WHITE IVY and a whole lot of tools to make physical description alive and vibrant and even important to the story.

What are your favorite techniques for physical description of characters? And what makes you like a physical description when you read?

bit.ly/WhIvyPhysDes

#writingconversations #writingcommunity #bookstodon #physicaldescription #readinglikeawriter #whiteivy #writingcraft

Last updated 1 year ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1707 followers · 5142 posts · Server zirk.us

I wrote about a story from Farah Ali's The People Want to Live and the way a simple description can come to life through the layering of seeming contradiction.

bit.ly/PeopleLiveAlive

#Books #bookstodon #readinglikeawriter #writingcommunity #amwriting #writing #writingcraft #farahali #thepeoplewanttolive #description #layering #contradiction #characterization #theloft

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1588 followers · 3911 posts · Server zirk.us

I wrote about the opening chapter to Erika T. Wurth's WHITE HORSE and how it pulls together the mundane and the creepy to both situate & get the story moving--and also do weirder things like evoke the uncanny & make brain explosions.

#'ErikaTWurth

bit.ly/WhHSS

#Books #bookstodon #readinglikeawriter #writingcommunity #pov #perspective #writingcraft #whitehorse #horror #generationaltrauma #monsters #ghosts

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1540 followers · 3663 posts · Server zirk.us

Here's something I wrote a while ago about about a really fascinating POV and THE INCENDIARIES by R.O. Kwon.

bit.ly/2FGr4zW

#Books #bookstodon #readinglikeawriter #writingcommunity #pov #perspective #writingcraft #rokwon #theincendiaries

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1419 followers · 2627 posts · Server zirk.us

This time I wrote about Paul Yoon's SNOW HUNTERS and how a passage that layers contradictory emotions can get us to _feel_ in an amazing way, creating an experience beyond what can be articulated.

bit.ly/3Y7WOnT

#writingcommunity #readinglikeawriter #theloft #writersofmastodon #bookstodon #writingcraft #snowhunters #paulyoon #layeringemotion #paradox #contradiction

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1390 followers · 2384 posts · Server zirk.us

Since we've all been talking about how to find and develop interesting characters, I feel like sharing an old craft post about a fun way to think about describing them.

It's about Silvia Moreno-Garcia's (amazing!) CERTAIN DARK THINGS and physical description that is really alive and thrilling.

bit.ly/CertainDarkDescription

#writingcommunity #readinglikeawriter #theloft #writersofmastodon #bookstodon #writingcraft #physicaldescription #vampires #SilviaMorenoGarcia #certaindarkthings

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1365 followers · 2173 posts · Server zirk.us

I wrote this a while back about MONGRELS (by Stephan Graham Jones) and the sense of wonder, which is something I'm absurdly fascinated by.

How do we create--and hold!--such a fleeting sensation? I love thinking about it.

And I'd love to learn your ideas about other ways to play with it.

bit.ly/MongWond


#writingcommunity #readinglikeawriter #theloft #writersofmastodon #bookstodon #writingcraft #StephenGrahamJones #werewolves #horror #wonder

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1300 followers · 1960 posts · Server zirk.us

This time I wrote about Megan Gidding's The Women Could Fly and a moment that is small but truly thrilling. It's about subtext and landscape and a weirding of the way energy flows within a passage.

Also, the book is magnificent.

bit.ly/WomenFlyLandscapeReflec

#writingcommunity #writersofmastodon #bookstodon #readinglikeawriter #landscape #reflection #subtext #magic #writing #theloft #thewomencouldfly

Last updated 2 years ago
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Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1190 followers · 1509 posts · Server zirk.us

Here's something I wrote about The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (which I loved). It's about a scene written out of order to create a sort of ghost of itself, but I also talk about scene building more generally--how it's usually done, the effect that has, and what can happen when you choose something different. (To be clear, I like all ways!)

bit.ly/GhostBrideOutOrder

#writingcommunity #writing #scenebuilding #writingcraft #readinglikeawriter #ghostbride

Last updated 2 years ago
Original post

Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1190 followers · 1509 posts · Server zirk.us

Here's something I wrote about The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (which I loved). It's about a scene written out of order to create a sort of ghost of itself, but I also talk about scene building more generally--how it's usually done, the effect that has, and what can happen when you choose something different. (To be clear, I like all ways!)

bit.ly/GhostBrideOutOrder

#writingcommunity #writing #scenebuilding #writingcraft #readinglikeawriter #ghostbride

Last updated 2 years ago
Original post

Allison Wyss · @allisonwyss
1190 followers · 1509 posts · Server zirk.us

Here's something I wrote about The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo (which I loved). It's about a scene written out of order to create a sort of ghost of itself, but I also talk about scene building more generally--how it's usually done, the effect that has, and what can happen when you choose something different. (To be clear, I like all ways!)

bit.ly/GhostBrideOutOrder

#writingcommunity #writing #scenebuilding #writingcraft #readinglikeawriter #ghostbride

Last updated 2 years ago
Original post