writing – joshua chamberlain

the job of an artist

In a discussion with Paul Holdengraber on the Library Talks podcast, Junot Diaz dives into how he defines his role as an artist in society: I feel like my job as an artist is to make people more critical minded about even the thing I’m asking them to be in conversation with…If someone resists myContinue reading “the job of an artist”

for moments of catastrophic failure

I’ve been working on a new play for the last year or so. This past weekend, I assembled a cast of actors to sit and read the script for the first time. It was awful. While the feedback I received was invaluable, the consensus from those in the room was that the play was aContinue reading “for moments of catastrophic failure”

many things at once

This morning’s Writer’s Almanac had an interesting quote from Raymond Chandler, discussing Philip Marlowe, the protagonist of his novel The Big Sleep: He must be the best man in his world and good enough for any world. I do not care much about his private life; he is neither a eunuch nor a satyr; IContinue reading “many things at once”

ditching the paywall

I recently removed my fiction on Medium from behind the paywall. When I posted these stories originally, I thought, “Amazing! I can get paid for my writing!” In two years, I’ve made $4.44. Not exactly a windfall. Seth Godin defines art as “a human act, a generous contribution, something that might not work, and itContinue reading “ditching the paywall”

sharing what you have

I just published two new stories on my Medium page, where I keep all my fiction. One is the story of two childhood friends who suffer the pains of outgrowing one another and the other the story of a suburban teenager who learns the housewife he pines for isn’t what she seems. Neither of theseContinue reading “sharing what you have”

a really good bucket

In the process of listening to interviews with Jennifer Egan and Elizabeth Strout, I’ve been pondering the roll of the unconscious in writing and art making. Both Strout and Egan talk about how writing flows from someplace beyond the conscious mind. Speaking about her 2019 novel, Olive, Again, Strout says the famous character appeared toContinue reading “a really good bucket”

let your unconscious do the work

I’ve been trying to take a page from Jennifer Egan’s book lately and allow my unconscious do the work. This means writing by hand, following characters where they want to go. I wrote a scene this morning I thought was going to end with a character forcing their way onstage to perform at a bar.Continue reading “let your unconscious do the work”

somewhere to be terrible

I’ve been dabbling with collages for a few years now. It helps me clear my head and express what I can’t with words. But somewhere down the line, I got stuck. The process of cutting and pasting became too important. I’d wind up crushing a finished collage under the weight of what I expected itContinue reading “somewhere to be terrible”

get bored

I’ve had problems working on one thing at a time for my entire life. Call it a kind of creative ADHD. I’ll sit down to write a story, get bored or confused or frustrated, then decide to work on something else. With as many ideas as I have, this happens all the time. I’ll swapContinue reading “get bored”

why we want mirrors

I’ve written several times about Fran Liebowitz’s discussion of books from the Netflix series, Pretend It’s a City. The most striking of her comments, being of course, the moment when she says, “a book isn’t supposed to be a mirror, it’s supposed to be a door!” Jennifer Egan expands upon this idea in this interviewContinue reading “why we want mirrors”