“Strive as you will to elevate woman, nevertheless the disabilities and degradation of her dress, together with that large group of false views of the uses of her being and of her relations to man, symbolized and perpetuated by her dress, will make your striving vain.”– Gerritt Smith c. 1860 To paraphrase Mr. Smith’s somewhat… Continue Reading
Author Archives: Sidney Stark
In The Long Run
A little boy in my new novel needs to swing into a room on the same 19th century door his father did a generation before. What does the door look like? Is it heavy oak or a cast iron frame with tempered glass? I can’t remember. A major character from a previous novel is going… Continue Reading
Foreground, Middle-Ground, Background
Looking at a visual image through photography, video, paint or our own eyes, we’re aware of objects in three dimensions. They inhabit different grounds, and that gives them diverse prominence and meaning; all pretty obvious, except when we start to pay attention to the details drawing us into the story. I’ve been paying a… Continue Reading
Hashtags
“Hashtag (#)@susanswedding. All pictures welcome. Hashtag (#)@johnsmith. Where were you when…Joe Brown commented on his Facebook timeline having coffee at the station. ‘Like’ his comment and see all comments instantly by going to Facebook…” What’s all this about? Does it mean anything or is it gibberish; or, perhaps, is it gibberish that does mean… Continue Reading
Never Look Back, Children
Never look back. That warning must be embedded in our historic memory, springing from one of the myths we were raised on. There were always dire consequences associated with the rejection of the advice to keep eyes forward. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of potassium chloride, and poor Orpheus lost his beloved Eurydice thanks… Continue Reading
Character Building
Where do they come from, those fascinating, complex, enigmatic-yet-familiar characters who populate our favorite fiction? Writers are always asked that; by their readers, friends and even other writers. Like much of the art we love most, the answers are as varied as the characters themselves. There’s no right way to bring them to life, and… Continue Reading