by Jamie Chavez | Mar 17, 2016 | The Writing Craft
Metaphor is analogous to fiction, because it floats a rival reality. It is the entire imaginative process in one move. If I compare the slates on a roof to an armadillo’s back, or—as I did earlier—the bald patch on the top of my head to a crop circle (or on very bad...
by Jamie Chavez | Jun 21, 2014 | Books You Might Like, The Writing Craft
The kind of metaphor I most delight in … estranges and then instantly connects, and in doing the latter so well, hides the former. The result is a tiny shock of surprise, followed by a feeling of inevitability. In To the Lighthouse, Mrs. Ramsay says goodnight to her...
by Jamie Chavez | Feb 21, 2013 | Guest Posts, The Writing Craft
While I’m working on an urgent deadline, here’s a lovely post from my friend, author Christa Allan.* It originally ran on her own blog, and I’m pleased to republish it here. Connecting the Dots Last night we ate one of my pedestrian suppers of spaghetti and meat...
by Jamie Chavez | Nov 26, 2012 | Words & Language
I grew up in a home filled with books and magazines and record albums. My parents weren’t wealthy; they were working class folks, but this is how they were raised and how they raised their children too. We kids had access to all of those wonders, and one of my...
by Jamie Chavez | Mar 17, 2012 | Miscellany
Sung by both Scots and Irish, this traditional song is often performed at the end of a gathering of friends (say, at a pub), but also at wakes. Think of the POV: it can be either from a person who is leaving the gathering … or from that of the corpse. You can hear...
