When I teach, I try to assign writers from whom I can learn. Tom Barbash More Quotes by Tom Barbash More Quotes From Tom Barbash Susan Rebecca White has a keen sense for how her characters talk and think. An impressive debut. Tom Barbash white character thinking Of course I'd sometimes have characters from downstate living upstate, but it took a while for me to start writing about where I grew up. Tom Barbash writing sometimes character When you teach, it's sometimes necessary to consciously not write for a month or two - and then pick a time in the future to sink back in. It makes you less frustrated and more in control. I do best when I give myself breaks and come back hungry. Tom Barbash writing giving two I'll write about California someday, I imagine, but I don't know when. Tom Barbash california imagine writing I think it's probably better to make a region your own, and then maybe you can go somewhere else, but a lot of great writers have stuck to one region. Tom Barbash stuck somewhere-else thinking I believe that we can access stories, and voices from those around us, more easily often than from our own imperfect memories. Tom Barbash voice memories believe I think narrators expect a high level of intimacy with their readers, and vice versa. Tom Barbash narrators vices thinking I tend to listen to my friends and family empathetically, and I try to help work through their problems from the inside. I try to adopt their thinking. Tom Barbash family-and-friends trying thinking I think the second, or outsider's, perspective can come as you layer a story. It's as though you've grabbed a secondary character and asked them, "What do you make of this guy?" and the hope is that the answer surprises you as the writer. Tom Barbash perspective character thinking I think the voice can carry a story. Tom Barbash voice stories thinking I'm always relearning things I thought I'd learned for good a while back. Tom Barbash I'm suspicious of epiphanies, because they so rarely last. Tom Barbash epiphany suspicious lasts I think writers tend to hear a different message from the ones our friends and acquaintances intend. We see what's revealed, which makes us dangerous. Tom Barbash different messages thinking Being a reporter took me out of myself and that shaped me as a writer. Tom Barbash reporters I had written about a small hamlet upstate, and had been called into a meeting about my story, which, as it turned out, had upset a lot of people. Tom Barbash upset stories people I think one's person's unlikeable is another's lovable. Tom Barbash lovable persons thinking My characters tend, if wounded, to be emotionally resourceful. Often they're in that way station between when loss happens and when it can be fully comprehended. In the meantime they're fighting to get something back, and occasionally they prevail in surprising ways. Tom Barbash fighting loss character I went back into the older stories and reworked them, because I became a better writer over the years and could spot flaws. I loved having another chance to make them stronger, and to bring them closer to me, made them less like a greatest hits compilation, and more like something written in the same extended burst. Tom Barbash another-chance stronger years One good thing the teaching has given me is the ability to read and revise my own work. Tom Barbash given good-things teaching
