Allison Wyss<p>I’ve been thinking about what a gift it is to be allowed to read another writer’s WIP. I get to do it a lot as a teacher & book coach & also in my writing group.</p><p> There’s just so much you can learn from a _draft_, when the possibilities are endless & before it’s all buttoned up. </p><p>There’s craft & there’s also how another person’s brain work &—maybe most important—there are these big, fresh, exciting IDEAS.</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a></p>
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#writingconversations
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Allison Wyss<p>I wrote about an interesting prologue. So let's talk about prologues! </p><p>Not whether you love them or hate them--but what they are uniquely able to do. What's the difference between a prologue and a first chapter? What is the function of a prologue? And what's the fun of it too? How do you think about whether to include one?</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/4avWqpA" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/4avWqpA</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/prologue" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>prologue</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ReadingLikeAWriter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ReadingLikeAWriter</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WhatHappenedtoRuthyRamiriz" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WhatHappenedtoRuthyRamiriz</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/ClaireJimenez" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>ClaireJimenez</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/FirstPage" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FirstPage</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/BookOpenings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>BookOpenings</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>Lit!Commons--the new thing I'm doing--is live!</p><p>It's a virtual space for writers, featuring short, asynchronous classes about craft, creative process, & publishing. It's also a place for connection & community & conversations. And every week, there will be 10 live zoom sessions that you can drop into to talk about writing. (Like we do here--but with voices too.)</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/AmWriting" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AmWriting</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritersOfMastodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritersOfMastodon</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCraft" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCraft</span></a></p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/LitCommonsAW" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/LitCommonsAW</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>Who is in the DC area on Apr. 3? This is going to be a great reading.</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/43dG2a6" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/43dG2a6</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Bookstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Bookstodon</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/AuthorReading" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>AuthorReading</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WashingtonDC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WashingtonDC</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/SplendidAnatomies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>SplendidAnatomies</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/UniversityofMaryland" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>UniversityofMaryland</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>OK. I wrote a thing a while back about fairytale retellings (and more things about retellings, even further back) but it was an a platform that I wasn't proud of. It's moved to a new place if anyone is interested. (And more things from the new place are coming soon.)</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/3OMOF5H" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/3OMOF5H</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/fairytale" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fairytale</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/retellings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retellings</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/multiverse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>multiverse</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>writing</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>And of course it's how tropes work too. Except the specifics are perhaps removed? I'm not sure. Is there an "original" when we talk about tropes? Or is there sort of a blank form?</p><p>(And of course there _was_ a first, but it's not necessarily true that the reader remembers the first, or any specific example, so much as the form itself.)</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/retellings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>retellings</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/tropes" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>tropes</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>So, at the simplest level, this is subtext. The subtext of a retelling is the original story. </p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/subtext" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>subtext</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Retellings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Retellings</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>It's such an example of how the reader contributes to the experience of the story. The writer trusts that they know the earlier version. </p><p>If they don't--if the writer doesn't expect the to--then it's a completely different thing. Then it's stealing a story! </p><p>But in a retelling, the writer _wants_ the reader to know the old form and to make a messy mix of the two.</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Retellings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Retellings</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>So! I was on (the amazing) Story Hour and I read two retellings AND Daniel Marcus read a retelling of something else (it was so good!), and that makes me want to talk about retellings more generally.</p><p>There's this depth that is created when the reader layers the older version with the new one. I think it makes a brain explosion. (I also think about the multiverse.)</p><p>How do you use this in your writing?</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/StoryHour" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>StoryHour</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Retellings" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Retellings</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/48hCKUj" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/48hCKUj</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>A question I ask all the time in my classes--and it's not rhetorical--also I don't think there is one answer--is: What makes a story?</p><p>I love to think about what it is that gives me (or anyone--and it definitely varies) the sense of narrative, the sense of having read a thing that has... what... something like a point? I can't even define what the feeling is--but the sense that it's a story.</p><p>What does that for you? What makes a thing a story?</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Narrative" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Narrative</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>It's also, maybe, a way to invite the reader to take your story into the rest of their day. Sometimes the rhythms catch on in your head--like a tune that gets stuck. If I read Shakespeare, I might think iambicly for the rest of the week. </p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Meter" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Meter</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>It doesn't happen for every reader (of course not!) but sometimes you can use the rhythms of sentences to change the pattern of a reader's breathing. So the story worms all the way into a reader's body & invites a deep emotional response. I think it can help shift a reader from the space of knowing to that of feeling. </p><p>Very useful for sex scenes or moments of suspense! </p><p>What other times is this useful?<br>Do you think about rhythm this way when you write? </p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>BTW, I am NOT saying "you have to learn the rules to break them"--not at all! These aren't rules to begin with. And also you don't have to learn a trope to do something else. But I do think you CAN learn things by studying common strategies. The strategies are never required, but there must be a reason they are common.</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>Teaching the scary stories class, I kept thinking about all of the cliches of horror (movies especially) and how they have _function_. This is true of any trope or cliche, I think. Even if you don't want to use a particular trope--if it feels tired to you, say--you can still learn from it. In fact, when you consider what it does, that thought process very often leads to a different way to accomplish the same thing.<br> <br><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <br><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Horror</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/GhostStories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GhostStories</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Gothic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gothic</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>So. </p><p>I'm in the middle of a class on ghost stories. I'm about to teach a one off on creating scary atmosphere. And I just wrote this craft essay about accumulating horror. </p><p>Let's talk about what scares you when you read and how to make it happen when you write. Ideas?</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Horror" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Horror</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/GhostStories" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>GhostStories</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Halloween" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Halloween</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Gothic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Gothic</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/BlackTeethHorror" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/BlackTeethHorror</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.</p><p>It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets. </p><p>What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?</p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/DiffDepth" rel="nofollow noopener" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/DiffDepth</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Characterization" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Characterization</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/FairyTales" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>FairyTales</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Uncanny" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Uncanny</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/IntuitiveDepth" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>IntuitiveDepth</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Flatness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Flatness</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>Something must have been off with my connection the past few days--I thought everybody hated my question--but it turned out I just couldn't see the replies. Hope I'm not too late now that I see them! </p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Subtext" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Subtext</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Inflection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Inflection</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>In my subtext class, we talk about inflection--how meaning changes based on _how_ words are said. This seems pretty obvious & I think about how we do it in real life & how actors do it. But then there's a moment of--wait!--how do we make inflection felt in writing?</p><p>So: Just describing it, of course. Emphasis through rhythm & punctuation choices. Gesture. What else?</p><p>How do you play with inflection in your dialogue?</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Subtext" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Subtext</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Inflection" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Inflection</span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>For this one I wrote about Nightbitch (by Rachel Yoder) and sensibility. But I also let myself geek about this long and luxurious sentence that piles up imagery for days. </p><p>Come across any lovely sentences lately? (Definitely count the ones you write yourself!)</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Writing" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Writing</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Sensibility" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Sensibility</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Sentences" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Sentences</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Nightbitch" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Nightbitch</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/Punctuation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>Punctuation</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/NightbitchDualSens" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="">bit.ly/NightbitchDualSens</span><span class="invisible"></span></a></p>
Allison Wyss<p>I wrote about how fairy tales are conversation & collaboration (& also multi-verse). I think fairy tales make it obvious, but I also think all storytelling is this way. We're always sharing tools & ideas & frameworks. </p><p>How much do you think about your story's dependencies on other stories, other writers, and eventual readers? Do you leave openings for other people to talk back?</p><p><a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingCommunity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingCommunity</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/WritingConversations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>WritingConversations</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/imprompt2" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>imprompt2</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/fairytales" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>fairytales</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/multiverse" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>multiverse</span></a> <a href="https://zirk.us/tags/folklore" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">#<span>folklore</span></a> </p><p><a href="https://imprompt2.substack.com/p/fairy-tales-as-multiverse" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">imprompt2.substack.com/p/fairy</span><span class="invisible">-tales-as-multiverse</span></a></p>
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