Those of you who attended The New York Society Library's very first Open Mic Night on Oct 27, 2009 will definitely remember Victoria Reiter's fascinating memory piece "An Afternoon with Salvador Dali".
The piece has just been published in the latest issue of the online literary magazine Eclectica. Read it and realize just how dull your own life is.
Happy New Year!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
The Writing Life Winter 2012
I'm really excited about the Winter 2012 programming for The Writing Life at The New York Society Library. The January events have already been announced to the membership in the e-newsletter that came out this week, but I thought I'd give the faithful blog readers a heads up on the rest...Don't forget to register, because spaces are limited.
The A-B-C's of E-Book Publishing
with: John Snyder, author of Hill of Beans; Joshua Tallent (Founder and CEO of eBook Architects); and bestselling author Parnell Hall.
January 10 at 10am, Members' Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
Literary Magazine Salon
hosted by Adam Kirsch
January 18 at 6:30pm, Members' Room
$10. Open to the Public. Nonmembers can register by calling or emailing Events office at 212-288-6900 x230 or events@nysoclib.org
Celebrate the literary magazine at our third annual Salon, featuring food and wine, conversation, visual presentations, and readings. Editors of The Paris Review and Triple Canopy will discuss thoughts on literature old and new, on the page and on the Web.
Blurb is a Verb! Adventures (and Misadventures) in Book Publicity
February 14 at 10am, Whitridge Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
Sarah Pinneo is the author of the popular blog Blurb is a Verb!, in which she shares true (and sometimes terrible) stories of book publicity gone right (and wrong). In this talk, the self-described publishing nerd will reveal what she's learned about online book publicity, book bloggers, social media, bookstore events, working with your in-house publicist, and how to find your audience.
Close Reading: The Craft of Reading Fiction Like a Writer
with: Dylan Landis
March 13 at 10am, Whitridge Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
In this session we'll take the first chapter of Daniel Woodrell's novel Winter's Bone, read it aloud one sentence or paragraph at a time, and hold each part up to the light. Close reading is a slow, surprisingly exciting process. It reveals how a writer does the critical jobs of storytelling: creates conflict, ramps up tension, reveals and deepens character, establishes place and time, anchors a world in sensory detail, and moves the story forward. Through close reading we refine our ability to learn, as writers, the craft of fiction from the authors we admire.
The A-B-C's of E-Book Publishing
with: John Snyder, author of Hill of Beans; Joshua Tallent (Founder and CEO of eBook Architects); and bestselling author Parnell Hall.
January 10 at 10am, Members' Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
Literary Magazine Salon
hosted by Adam Kirsch
January 18 at 6:30pm, Members' Room
$10. Open to the Public. Nonmembers can register by calling or emailing Events office at 212-288-6900 x230 or events@nysoclib.org
Celebrate the literary magazine at our third annual Salon, featuring food and wine, conversation, visual presentations, and readings. Editors of The Paris Review and Triple Canopy will discuss thoughts on literature old and new, on the page and on the Web.
Blurb is a Verb! Adventures (and Misadventures) in Book Publicity
February 14 at 10am, Whitridge Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
Sarah Pinneo is the author of the popular blog Blurb is a Verb!, in which she shares true (and sometimes terrible) stories of book publicity gone right (and wrong). In this talk, the self-described publishing nerd will reveal what she's learned about online book publicity, book bloggers, social media, bookstore events, working with your in-house publicist, and how to find your audience.
Close Reading: The Craft of Reading Fiction Like a Writer
with: Dylan Landis
March 13 at 10am, Whitridge Room
Free of charge. For Library members only.
In this session we'll take the first chapter of Daniel Woodrell's novel Winter's Bone, read it aloud one sentence or paragraph at a time, and hold each part up to the light. Close reading is a slow, surprisingly exciting process. It reveals how a writer does the critical jobs of storytelling: creates conflict, ramps up tension, reveals and deepens character, establishes place and time, anchors a world in sensory detail, and moves the story forward. Through close reading we refine our ability to learn, as writers, the craft of fiction from the authors we admire.
Friday, December 16, 2011
Notes on: Organizing Your Notes
Thanks to all the member writers who attended the Library's Writing Life discussion Organizing Your Notes on Tuesday, Dec 13. The event was structured as an audience forum, moderated by biographer Gayle Feldman, whose current project (a biography of Bennet Cerf, a man of many lives) would sorely test the limits of patience of even the most organized among us.
The discussion revealed one observable fact: the majority of the member writers in the audience (Gayle included) do not use organizing software and actually do not use many electronic tools in organizing research notes. Those of you that do use organizing software, please weigh in in the comments section below!
Gayle Describes Her Own Project to Set up the Discussion
As she sees it, there are 2 separate organizing challenges:
1) the "stuff" itself - papers, archival materials, photos, etc.
2) how to have the material available to use it for writing
Gayle's own research "stuff" includes:
1) Physical Files - these are papers that she has organized in three ways: People, Thematic, and Chronological. Cross-referencing of paper files is ESSENTIAL.
2) 7 dedicated Bookcase Shelves - organized thematically and chronologically
3) Computer Files - these mirror the paper files in some respects
4) Archive Files - Archival collections in libraries often have finding aids online; some archival libraries are organized better than others. Gayle keeps physical file folders for each archive and since many will let you photograph materials, she does, prints them at home, and adds slips of paper with notations on the archive (eg. "Faulkner Box 20, UVA")
5) Interviews - Gayle's project involves over 200 interviews. She started the project 9 years ago using mini discs, which are now unfortunately obsolete. She does not transcribe interviews as it takes too long. Instead, she's developed her own form of shorthand, and she records the interviews in steno notebooks. An interview index (name, date, a few sentences of the important info or quotes) helps her to find the stuff later.
What Gayle does with the "stuff":
She has a big, general outline
- Each decade of her subject's life is a section
- Within each section are individual chapters
- She creates an outline for each section, sub-divides the section, culls all the "stuff" from filing cabinets and the computer files and puts it into files. Also uses post it notes on papers in files to flag things according to the outline. Once it's written, she pulls off the post it notes.
- Each chapter has a title
- Each chapter also has a footer indicating its place in the grand outline (eg. "Part 4, Chapter 6, Draft 12_2011)
The Discussion
Q (to Gayle): When do you get rid of drafts? A: She keeps them all.
Q (to Gayle): How do you manage transitions in the work and know when you've used material or mentioned various people, events, etc? A: Use search/find in the document
Q: How to manage bibliographies? One audience member suggested Worldcat.org, which allows you to register, create lists, and export bibliographies and citations in various formats. Other suggestions were citation software like the fee-based EndNote and the free Zotero. Check out Zotero in the notes from the tech class on Citations Made Simple that one of our librarians taught last year.
Q (to Gayle): Do you ever convert the paper research you've acquired to electronic? A: No, there's basically too much photocopied correspondence. Audience members weighed in to suggest easy ways to digitize various files and formats so it can be used electronically. Adobe Acrobat can be expensive, but you can then run optical character recognition (OCR) on the output to make the content searchable. Paper Port software from Nuance was reported to be cheaper than Acrobat. Scanning can be quick and easy too. One audience member recommended her Fujitsu Scan Snap S1300 which is relatively inexpensive and can scan 8-10 pages at a time. It's also possible to purchase attachments for feeding slides for scanning.
Q: Perhaps off the topic for writers, specifically, but how would the audience suggest organizing personal papers? A: Again, much like when you're writing, you should think about the "stuff" and how you'll be using the "stuff". Audience suggested putting some order to it possibly by topic, and then by chronology.
Q: Any suggestions for software to cross-reference material? Writer has been using FileMaker Pro, which she finds difficult to use. Audience did not have alternate suggestions.
Q: Dictation software? A: Many audience members reported having great experiences using the latest edition of Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is very accurate. Another member suggested the add on software Utter Command, a speech command system that works with Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Other audience members recommended OneNote, which according to the Microsoft website is a "note-taking and information-management program where you can capture ideas and information in electronic form".
Please continue to inform the discussion by adding your own comments and suggestions!
These notes were taken with plain old pen and paper and were therefore difficult to decipher and interpret 5 days later. {sigh}
The discussion revealed one observable fact: the majority of the member writers in the audience (Gayle included) do not use organizing software and actually do not use many electronic tools in organizing research notes. Those of you that do use organizing software, please weigh in in the comments section below!
Gayle Describes Her Own Project to Set up the Discussion
As she sees it, there are 2 separate organizing challenges:
1) the "stuff" itself - papers, archival materials, photos, etc.
2) how to have the material available to use it for writing
Gayle's own research "stuff" includes:
1) Physical Files - these are papers that she has organized in three ways: People, Thematic, and Chronological. Cross-referencing of paper files is ESSENTIAL.
2) 7 dedicated Bookcase Shelves - organized thematically and chronologically
3) Computer Files - these mirror the paper files in some respects
4) Archive Files - Archival collections in libraries often have finding aids online; some archival libraries are organized better than others. Gayle keeps physical file folders for each archive and since many will let you photograph materials, she does, prints them at home, and adds slips of paper with notations on the archive (eg. "Faulkner Box 20, UVA")
5) Interviews - Gayle's project involves over 200 interviews. She started the project 9 years ago using mini discs, which are now unfortunately obsolete. She does not transcribe interviews as it takes too long. Instead, she's developed her own form of shorthand, and she records the interviews in steno notebooks. An interview index (name, date, a few sentences of the important info or quotes) helps her to find the stuff later.
What Gayle does with the "stuff":
She has a big, general outline
- Each decade of her subject's life is a section
- Within each section are individual chapters
- She creates an outline for each section, sub-divides the section, culls all the "stuff" from filing cabinets and the computer files and puts it into files. Also uses post it notes on papers in files to flag things according to the outline. Once it's written, she pulls off the post it notes.
- Each chapter has a title
- Each chapter also has a footer indicating its place in the grand outline (eg. "Part 4, Chapter 6, Draft 12_2011)
The Discussion
Q (to Gayle): When do you get rid of drafts? A: She keeps them all.
Q (to Gayle): How do you manage transitions in the work and know when you've used material or mentioned various people, events, etc? A: Use search/find in the document
Q: How to manage bibliographies? One audience member suggested Worldcat.org, which allows you to register, create lists, and export bibliographies and citations in various formats. Other suggestions were citation software like the fee-based EndNote and the free Zotero. Check out Zotero in the notes from the tech class on Citations Made Simple that one of our librarians taught last year.
Q (to Gayle): Do you ever convert the paper research you've acquired to electronic? A: No, there's basically too much photocopied correspondence. Audience members weighed in to suggest easy ways to digitize various files and formats so it can be used electronically. Adobe Acrobat can be expensive, but you can then run optical character recognition (OCR) on the output to make the content searchable. Paper Port software from Nuance was reported to be cheaper than Acrobat. Scanning can be quick and easy too. One audience member recommended her Fujitsu Scan Snap S1300 which is relatively inexpensive and can scan 8-10 pages at a time. It's also possible to purchase attachments for feeding slides for scanning.
Q: Perhaps off the topic for writers, specifically, but how would the audience suggest organizing personal papers? A: Again, much like when you're writing, you should think about the "stuff" and how you'll be using the "stuff". Audience suggested putting some order to it possibly by topic, and then by chronology.
Q: Any suggestions for software to cross-reference material? Writer has been using FileMaker Pro, which she finds difficult to use. Audience did not have alternate suggestions.
Q: Dictation software? A: Many audience members reported having great experiences using the latest edition of Dragon Naturally Speaking, which is very accurate. Another member suggested the add on software Utter Command, a speech command system that works with Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Other audience members recommended OneNote, which according to the Microsoft website is a "note-taking and information-management program where you can capture ideas and information in electronic form".
Please continue to inform the discussion by adding your own comments and suggestions!
These notes were taken with plain old pen and paper and were therefore difficult to decipher and interpret 5 days later. {sigh}
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Books at the Bar, Thursday, Dec 1
Once again directing your attention to this terrific author series at The New York City Bar Association. Books at the Bar chair (and NY State judge AND NYSL member) Diane Kiesel says:
"Washington, DC author John A. Farrell, who will speak about his new biography, Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned. If you think there is nothing new to say about old Clarence, you will learn you are quite wrong. The Farrell book is full of interesting, entertaining surprises about this legal icon."
The program begins at 6 PM with a wine and cheese reception (!) for the author, followed by a book talk, question and answer period, book sale and signing.
Thursday, Dec 1, 6pm
The City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street (betw 5th and 6th avenues)
"Washington, DC author John A. Farrell, who will speak about his new biography, Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned. If you think there is nothing new to say about old Clarence, you will learn you are quite wrong. The Farrell book is full of interesting, entertaining surprises about this legal icon."
The program begins at 6 PM with a wine and cheese reception (!) for the author, followed by a book talk, question and answer period, book sale and signing.
Thursday, Dec 1, 6pm
The City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street (betw 5th and 6th avenues)
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Crime Scene!
Something to plan for next week:
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
It's the 8th Annual Festival of New Literature from Europe and this year's literary series theme is Crime Scene. There are readings, panels, and films scheduled from Nov 15 - Nov 20, but there's one in particular that you should check out.
NYSL member B.J. Rahn (Profesor of English at Hunter College and a scholar of crime fiction) will be moderating the panel The Shifting Scene at The Center for Fiction on Nov 16 at 6:30pm.
8th Annual Festival
New Literature From Europe
New York, Nov 15-20,2011
Click here for details
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
It's the 8th Annual Festival of New Literature from Europe and this year's literary series theme is Crime Scene. There are readings, panels, and films scheduled from Nov 15 - Nov 20, but there's one in particular that you should check out.
NYSL member B.J. Rahn (Profesor of English at Hunter College and a scholar of crime fiction) will be moderating the panel The Shifting Scene at The Center for Fiction on Nov 16 at 6:30pm.
8th Annual Festival
New Literature From Europe
New York, Nov 15-20,2011
Click here for details
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Invitation from the Colonial Dames
A.R. Gurney's The Dining Room
A Reading Benefiting the Colonial Dames Museum House
Wednesday, November 2
Cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres 6:00 p.m.; Reading 7:00 p.m.
215 East 71st Street (2nd/3rd Aves.)
Informal tours of museum available
$75 or two for $125; Call 212-744-3572 to reserve
Join New York Society Library member and past presenter Bill Connington at a benefit reading of The Dining Room by beloved American playwright A.R. Gurney. The play is a comedy of manners about white European culture in 20th-century America. The reading also stars TV/Broadway performers Barbara Walsh (Company, Falsettos), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Edoardo Ballerini (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos), David M. Lutken (Inherit the Wind), and Annmarie Benedict (Robeson).
The evening benefits the restoration of the dining room at Van Cortlandt House in the Bronx, historically important as the headquarters of General George Washington in the Battle of White Plains.
For more information on the Colonial Dames, click here
A Reading Benefiting the Colonial Dames Museum House
Wednesday, November 2
Cocktails and Hors D'oeuvres 6:00 p.m.; Reading 7:00 p.m.
215 East 71st Street (2nd/3rd Aves.)
Informal tours of museum available
$75 or two for $125; Call 212-744-3572 to reserve
Join New York Society Library member and past presenter Bill Connington at a benefit reading of The Dining Room by beloved American playwright A.R. Gurney. The play is a comedy of manners about white European culture in 20th-century America. The reading also stars TV/Broadway performers Barbara Walsh (Company, Falsettos), Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Avenue Q), Edoardo Ballerini (Boardwalk Empire, The Sopranos), David M. Lutken (Inherit the Wind), and Annmarie Benedict (Robeson).
The evening benefits the restoration of the dining room at Van Cortlandt House in the Bronx, historically important as the headquarters of General George Washington in the Battle of White Plains.
For more information on the Colonial Dames, click here
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
The Center for Fiction's New Crime Writing Academy
Calling all aspiring crime writers! The Center for Fiction (one of the 3 membership libraries along with us here in NYC) has just announced a new program dedicated to the art of crime writing. Full press release below:
New York, October 14, 2011 -- The Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, has announced the February 2012 debut of The Crime Fiction Academy, the first ongoing, rigorous program exclusively dedicated to crime writing in all its forms. Students accepted into the program will be taught by successful practitioners of the genre, including workshop leaders and master teachers Megan Abbott, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Thomas H. Cook, Linda Fairstein, Susan Isaacs, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Joyce Carol Oates, SJ Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, Karin Slaughter and more. Crime fiction writer and CFA workshop leader Megan Abbott says, "Crime fiction doesn't just engage and entertain. It tells us volumes about the world we live in, and has helped form the foundation of American literature and storytelling. I am honored to be a part of a program that celebrates crime fiction and, more importantly, will serve as a launching pad for the next generation of crime writers and a vital incubator for hundreds of rich and exciting novels to come." Classes will take place in The Center’s 8-story building at 17 E. 47th Street in Manhattan.
CFA’s challenging and thoroughly engaging curriculum will include:
• a 14-week writing workshop
• a monthly Master Class
• a crime fiction reading seminar
• special lectures and discussions with editors, agents and distinguished persons from the world of crime fiction and publishing
• 24-hour access to the Center for Fiction’s Writers Studio
• Use of the extensive circulating collection (the Center for Fiction recently won a Raven Award for their amazing in-depth crime fiction collection)
• Free admission to all Center for Fiction events.
CFA Program Director and crime fiction writer Jonathan Santlofer says, “It was time for someone, someplace to take crime fiction seriously enough to create an in-depth, ongoing program devoted exclusively to the genre. And what better place then New York’s own Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, an institution that has been dedicated to writers and readers for almost 200 years. A chance to hone one’s writing skills with successfully published crime fiction authors, to shape that novel or story you’ve been thinking about, working on, but just couldn’t finish, in one of New York City’s most intimate and nurturing environments — what more could any writer ask for?”
All classes, workshops, and lectures will take place in the evening. Students may enroll for one term, but a year-long commitment is suggested to take full advantage of the program. Admission is limited and competitive and is based on work samples. CFA will be accepting applications, beginning in November 2011 for the term beginning in February 2012. Click here for details.
New York, October 14, 2011 -- The Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, has announced the February 2012 debut of The Crime Fiction Academy, the first ongoing, rigorous program exclusively dedicated to crime writing in all its forms. Students accepted into the program will be taught by successful practitioners of the genre, including workshop leaders and master teachers Megan Abbott, Lawrence Block, Lee Child, Thomas H. Cook, Linda Fairstein, Susan Isaacs, Dennis Lehane, Laura Lippman, Joyce Carol Oates, SJ Rozan, Jonathan Santlofer, Karin Slaughter and more. Crime fiction writer and CFA workshop leader Megan Abbott says, "Crime fiction doesn't just engage and entertain. It tells us volumes about the world we live in, and has helped form the foundation of American literature and storytelling. I am honored to be a part of a program that celebrates crime fiction and, more importantly, will serve as a launching pad for the next generation of crime writers and a vital incubator for hundreds of rich and exciting novels to come." Classes will take place in The Center’s 8-story building at 17 E. 47th Street in Manhattan.
CFA’s challenging and thoroughly engaging curriculum will include:
• a 14-week writing workshop
• a monthly Master Class
• a crime fiction reading seminar
• special lectures and discussions with editors, agents and distinguished persons from the world of crime fiction and publishing
• 24-hour access to the Center for Fiction’s Writers Studio
• Use of the extensive circulating collection (the Center for Fiction recently won a Raven Award for their amazing in-depth crime fiction collection)
• Free admission to all Center for Fiction events.
CFA Program Director and crime fiction writer Jonathan Santlofer says, “It was time for someone, someplace to take crime fiction seriously enough to create an in-depth, ongoing program devoted exclusively to the genre. And what better place then New York’s own Center for Fiction, founded in 1820 as the Mercantile Library, an institution that has been dedicated to writers and readers for almost 200 years. A chance to hone one’s writing skills with successfully published crime fiction authors, to shape that novel or story you’ve been thinking about, working on, but just couldn’t finish, in one of New York City’s most intimate and nurturing environments — what more could any writer ask for?”
All classes, workshops, and lectures will take place in the evening. Students may enroll for one term, but a year-long commitment is suggested to take full advantage of the program. Admission is limited and competitive and is based on work samples. CFA will be accepting applications, beginning in November 2011 for the term beginning in February 2012. Click here for details.
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