Category Archives: Storytelling and Community

Children’s Lit Corner

Posted on January 10, 2012 by Kathryn Poulter

A couple of weeks ago I was cleaning out some boxes of books in the donations room of my library when a slim volume caught my eye. It was a old paperback copy of stories written by Sholom Aleichem. Now … Continue reading →

Posted in Children's Lit corner, Storytelling and Community, YA corner | 8 Comments

5 Techniques to Improve your Literary Short Fiction

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Lisa Torcasso Downing

Let’s talk craft today. The nitty gritty details of craft. The stuff that leaves our hands dirty from the effort. I know we have an awful lot of writers who read this blog. Revise: I know we have an abundance … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community, The Writer's Desk, Thoughts on Language | 7 Comments

Fairy Tales Fairly Told (again…and again…and again…)

Posted on November 21, 2011 by Scott Parkin

There are some tales that we tell, retell, reimagine, recast, adapt, invert, and update—time and time again. Stories we can’t seem to get enough of; stories that stick in our minds, infest our imaginations, and find expression in both intended and unintended ways. Whether folk legend, religious parable, or cultural fable, these (usually illustrative) stories demand to be retold. What is it about these stories that demand such attention? Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices, Storytelling and Community | 6 Comments

Evangelizing Mormon Lit: How to Lure the Audience Out of Its Shell

Posted on November 3, 2011 by James Goldberg

Part One: The Prospective Audience Let me begin with the man Josh Allen bought a used car from, who “missed the literary discussions and the focus on critical thinking he received as part of his education [and] expressed longing for … Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices, Storytelling and Community | 45 Comments

The Best of All Possible Worlds

Posted on October 17, 2011 by Scott Parkin

Why are so many stories written by so many Mormons focused entirely on suffering, and social breakdown, and dystopian (near)futures? Why do so many stories written by Mormon authors focus on the destruction of evil rather than the construction of good? Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices, Storytelling and Community | 11 Comments

Speaking Out vs. Being Heard

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Scott Parkin

This tension between the rhetorical (one-shot testifying) and the dialectic (extended argument intended to discover new conclusions) is at least as old as the ancient Greeks and has been a staple of academic consideration from the beginning.

The problem is that market forces are not conducive to extended conversations. If your last book sells you get a shot at the next one; otherwise, you’re out of luck and looking for a new publisher. The mechanics of markets tend to push more toward the rhetorical extreme—you have to make the biggest splash you can and deliver the entire conceptual payload in a single go. Continue reading →

Posted in Electronic Age, Mormon LitCrit, Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

In Tents 6

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Harlow Clark

Renounce (Culture) War and Proclaim Peace II, Angle of Repose In my last post I left culture war somewhat undefined. That was partly because when we define ourselves as being at war anything the perceived enemy does can be seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Mormon LitCrit, Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

The Relief Society and the Muting of Mormon Drama

Posted on July 18, 2011 by Scott Parkin

It’s been commented that one of the challenges of Mormon culture is that we’re just too mellow, that we don’t have so many of the moments of personal drama that define so much of common experience and the popular literature, with the effect that we (generally) lack the social misery that drives so much of our better literature and drama. Continue reading →

Posted in Community Voices, Personal Narratives, Storytelling and Community | 14 Comments

The Beauty of (Church) Pageants

Posted on July 16, 2011 by Guest

by Scott Hales Last summer my family took a trip to Palmyra to attend the Hill Cumorah Pageant. I had not been to the pageant since 1987–when I was still too young to get much out of it.[1] In fact, … Continue reading →

Posted in On-stage, Storytelling and Community | Tagged , , , , | 9 Comments

The Writer’s Desk: Ideas Are Cheap; Inspiration’s a Moonshine

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Josh Allen

Have you ever had this happen? A friend calls. She’s just had a brilliant idea for a story. Or maybe even a novel. This friend doesn’t have time to write stories, but she knows that you do, so she thought … Continue reading →

Posted in Storytelling and Community, The Writer's Desk | 18 Comments