Ander Monson edits the online journal DIAGRAM and the related printing house New Michigan Press. He’s an essayist and poet whose work has appeared in The Believer and The Best American Essays 2008. 12th Street: In […]
Archive
10: Chapter 5
The following post, by Tony Tallon, is the fifth installment of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. You can read the first four chapters here. We’ll be publishing a new chapter each week. The […]
Quiet Time
I write this from my parents’ retirement home near Chapel Hill, NC, where I’ve come to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. They live along a fairway in a gated golf community several miles from the quaint downtown area, […]
Just to clarify, I’m not a psychology major.
With finals, final papers and grad school application deadlines upon us, this just seemed appropriate! So far I have had people stand me up for meetings because they were immersed in their writing, received […]
Writing from Art
There’s been talk about writer’s block. I don’t really have a cure, but I know that every time I visit a museum, I leave with a poem. On Sunday, it was the MoMA. I went […]
10: Chapter 4
The following post, by Geoffrey Jason Kagan Trenchad, is the fourth installment of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. You can read the first three chapters here. We’ll be publishing a new chapter each […]
Cathedrals of Writing
There is something magical about a good bookstore—dusty shelves, quiet nooks, jazz on the stereo, sellers that are a blend of friendly and pedantic. It is a place of romance for an avid reader. Peace […]
What are YOU Doing Tomorrow Night?
Tomorrow night’s Riggio Honors Program: Writing and Democracy student reading is the last chance this fall to hear the words being written by your peers. Over the last couple of years within the Riggio program, […]
I’m Not Saying Buy Me a House, But I’m Not Saying I’ll Stop You If You Want To
Interesting post a couple of days ago at the Ploughshares blog about benefactors. I have mixed feelings about the idea of patronage, especially the support of a single artist by a single wealthy benefactor. Sure, […]
10: Chapter 3
The following post, by Sarah Finch, is the third installment of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. You can read chapters one and two here. We’ll be publishing a new chapter each week. The […]
Kicking the Legs Out
It’s rare in this day and age that films move us to tears. With movies like Beverly Hills Chihuahua and High School Musical 3 topping the charts, the majority of American films do little to […]
A Reader’s Question
I received a semi-anonymous email last week with a plea for advice regarding writer’s block. In lieu of a traditional post this week, I thought I would share my exchange with the writer with you, our readers.
12thstreetonline is meant to be a forum for us to explore writing both personally and professionally, so I hope you guys chime in with advice for our friend in need, and perhaps pitch some queries of your own in regards to your own writing these days.
Dear Anna,
I’m having a severe case of writer’s block. I can’t work on my play, my fiction workshop stuff, anything, and I was wondering if you had any tips? It’s seriously getting to me and I don’t know what to do. Help!
“I was never the kind of girl who grew up dreaming about her Prince/Princess Charming”
Ambulatory sisters— sister somnambulists— sorority of sleep-hikers— we are crossing a bridge. We’ve crossed our uncle & our fiancés will be cross, but we’ve got a long list, a lot of items to cross off. […]
10: Chapter 2
The following post, by J.L. Balderama, is the second installment of 10, 12th Street Online’s first serial novel. You can see chapter one here. We’ll be publishing a new chapter each week. Ballard fell. A […]
Choices, Choices
Zoë’s and Anna’s thoughtful comments about the process of writing last week prompted me to think about how we choose what to write about, and how we go about writing it. Do you tend to […]
I’m Not Going To Write You A Love Song
Or write him a song if you are so inclined. 12th Street got an interesting email this morning and we wanted to pass it along to you, our audience. We encourage you to speak you […]
Hooked On A Feeling
I cannot tell a lie: I was not always a supporter of Barack Obama, our new president elect. Early on in what has proven to be one of the longest presidential campaigns in American history, […]
Children of Our Era
We are children of our era;
our era is political.
Four years ago, I was old enough to vote in my first presidential election. I was living with my parents. I had to brave the terrors of going back to my old high school to cast my ballot. I wore my “I VOTED” sticker all day and into the night, waiting for the results that would validate my efforts and prove that I had made a difference. And then I was crushed.
Breaking Our Expectations
Does an addict have to be a bad person? Zoe Miller asks how to break the expectations when creating a character.
Mother of Us All
“It’s pretty clear to me that Palin has her eyes set on the presidency, so I asked myself what would her platform run on. What identity would they pick to shape her policies? The first thing that came to mind was the Mother Figure”