At the Los Angeles Times, Charles Yu discusses the novelistic techniques he employs in his television writing and, conversely, how his TV projects influence his fiction. “I find myself trying to import skills and tools from scripts to novels and back again,” Yu says. “From TV I’ve learned about structure and outlining and how to thread multiple storylines through a longer work. Going in the other direction, I try to find ways to incorporate my voice, my tone and a sense of being experimental from my books into my TV projects.”
Charles Yu on Switching Between TV and Novel Writing
Where to Start with Krasznahorkai?
If news of László Krasznahorkai winning his second straight Best Translated Book Award for his recent novella, Seiobo There Below, got you interested in reading the Hungarian author’s works, then look no further. Scott Esposito offers a handy road map entitled “Krasznahorkai: A Guide for the Perplexed and Fascinated.”
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Dispatches From ‘Nam
“In Saigon I always went to sleep stoned so I always lost my dreams, probably just as well, sock in deep and dim under that information and get whatever rest you could, wake up tapped of all images but the one remembered from the day before, with only the taste of a bad dream in your mouth like you’d been chewing on a roll of dirty old pennies in your sleep.” The 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time series over at The Guardian soldiers on with its ninth pick, Michael Herr’s Dispatches.
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Who Would Want to Buy a Printed Book?
The Boston Globe interviews Andrew Pettegree, author of The Book in the Renaissance, on how no one had any idea how to sell the first printed books. (via Book Bench)
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Alliteration Works, See?
Continuing her ongoing instructional column for The New York Times, Constance Hale gives some pointers on the sweet science of writing for the ear.
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No You’re Crying
A lost letter from a dying mother to her young daughter was found in a used bookstore in Bishop Auckland, England, and has been returned to its rightful owner after 15 years. Related: on donating books to unexpected readers.
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