tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3486900733569476872.post869091172508010860..comments2021-05-18T04:04:41.047-05:00Comments on Grout Nonfiction: Fifteen False or True StartsNuriahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07817166138838373212noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3486900733569476872.post-32669589320070127412012-03-02T14:21:17.576-06:002012-03-02T14:21:17.576-06:00Tanya, around the year you were born, after about ...Tanya, around the year you were born, after about 5 years of my emigration from the USSR, I took a Creative Writing class at UCLA Extension. I was shocked by the number of rules one was to follow (how to compose the first sentence, how to arrange paragraphs, etc.). Nothing like that had ever been mentioned to me before. As a result, all Russian-language nonfiction writing started to sound sloppy, chaotic and unstructured. At the same time, all American nonfiction writing started to sound predictable, rigid and unimaginative. The rule I invented for myself was: learn all the tricks they teach and then erase them from your memory. In the erased form they will help to avoid chaos and sloppiness without making your writing rigid and predictable. But that's the best case scenario...Vladimir Paperny, PhDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08343620148751772080noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3486900733569476872.post-30495021382737006482012-02-22T16:35:41.959-06:002012-02-22T16:35:41.959-06:00Tanya, I love your piece. I'm an Anne Carson,...Tanya, I love your piece. I'm an Anne Carson, John D'Agata, David Shields fan, too; I love how they transcend genre. And I love how you pull all your thoughts and sources together to transcend a mere discussion of the essay.Mitchnoreply@blogger.com