ArtPrize is a huge 19-day celebration in Grand Rapids, MI where some 1500 artists display their works in venues throughout the city and compete for $500,000 in cash prizes. While the contest is juried, the public also gets to vote for its favorites, and the Public Vote Grand Finalist is awarded $200,000. The city thrums with a creative vibe that is hard to put into words. If I were an artist, I would paint it. And then submit it to ArtPrize next year. What I have discovered this week is that my process as a writer parallels the process Read More
Tag: revision
Using Subtext: a Writer’s Magic Trick
Editor Teresa Crumpton is not a magician, but her insights and suggestion for punching up our writing with subtext could make us feel like we just pulled a rabbit out of a hat. “I know it when I see it, but—” Subtext can be hard to define, but it’s worth the effort. For the purposes of this short article, let’s think of subtext as the part of a scene the intelligent reader brings to the story. Of course the expertise of the clever-and-confident author sparks the reader’s contribution. Characters often use subtext when blurting out the plain truth would be Read More