Author Archives: AmiMaxine

What do you wish someone had told you when you first began to write?

Recently, I was asked “What do you wish someone had told you when you first began to write?” And honestly, it stumped me in the same way “What is your favorite book?” or “Who is your favorite author?” stumps me – in that I have far too many answers that I can’t possibly narrow itContinue reading “What do you wish someone had told you when you first began to write?”

What’s in a Name? (Author Edition)

I still remember the first time I saw my name in print. The experience was exhilarating. In a “right place, right time” scenario, I had learned that the county paper was looking for someone to write the weekly column of my town’s news (the previous person having just retired). I was a freshman in highContinue reading “What’s in a Name? (Author Edition)”

A Story a Day: Month Three

For this month, I chose (kind of) at random stories from Granta, the literary quarterly from Cambridge University, something I’d stumbled upon in my search for stories. I say ‘kind of’ because I scrolled through their list and chose any story that I came across – but skipped over the excerpts because I wanted stand-aloneContinue reading “A Story a Day: Month Three”

Tracking: Multiple Projects

Probably the most difficult thing I’ve found to track/wrap my head around is tracking multiple projects. This is new to me. In grad school, when I was writing multiple short stories all at once while working on my thesis, there still wasn’t all that much to track (mostly because there was one destination for theseContinue reading “Tracking: Multiple Projects”

Tracking: Plot

I remember early on in my learning about writing stories being taught Freytag’s pyramid: introduction/exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement. At the time, the simple structure made sense and worked just fine with the types of short stories I was writing at the time. As my instruction went on, as my stories became moreContinue reading “Tracking: Plot”

Tracking: Characters

I’m part of a really stellar online, global writing community. I found them, actually, through a workout program, and they were such an unexpected bonus who have become super important in my writer world. We have a private Facebook group where people can ask questions and share resources, and I’ve found questions about a specificContinue reading “Tracking: Characters”

A Story a Day: Month Two

For the month of February, I have opted to read all works by Black authors. The following stories all come from the list put together by the editorial staff of the Chicago Review of Books. Feel free to read along! “Anything Could Disappear” by Danielle Evans “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by ZZ Packer “The Era” byContinue reading “A Story a Day: Month Two”