Joyce Carol Oates - On Writing Characters

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/fora/showthread.php?t=1204 Critically acclaimed author Joyce Carol Oates discusses how a writer develops realistic characters, using examples from her novel "The Gravedigger's Daughter." ----- Joyce Carol Oates talks about "The Gravedigger's Daughter." A family desperate to escape Nazi Germany settles in upstate New York, where the father is demeaned by the only job he can get: gravedigger an cemetery caretaker. What follows is a tale of unspeakable tragedy, as the gravedigger's daughter begins her astonishing pilgrimage into America, an odyssey of ingenious self-invention and bittersweet triumph - Book Passage Joyce Carol Oates (born June 16, 1938) is an American author and the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professor in the Humanities with the Program in Creative Writing at Princeton University, where she has taught since 1978. She serves as associate editor for the Ontario Review, a literary magazine, and the Ontario Review Press, a literary book publisher, both of which are edited by her husband, Raymond J. Smith. Oates has also written under the pseudonyms "Rosamond Smith" and "Lauren Kelly." Her most recent book is "The Gravedigger's Daughter."

Channel: People & Blogs
Uploaded: August 10, 2007 at 9:40 am
Author: ForaTv

Length: 0:05:40
Rating: 4.82
Views: 17,477

Tags: writers novelists narrative fiction dialogue literature editor dramatic authors books realism creating developing foratv

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Video Comments:
neimon (Monday 13th of October 2008 07:19:06 AM)
That comma is incorrect. There is no phrase to set off. You're writing as if that's a pause for breath. If it were dialog, that'd be almost acceptable. But it's not. So how about we all chill on this subject?
mastercraftsucks (Thursday 9th of October 2008 01:23:50 PM)
Tad Williams pwns this woman anytime
ShortStoryComp (Sunday 21st of September 2008 05:20:48 AM)
Enter a short story competition and win a cash prize. Click on my profile to find out more.
isainathan (Monday 15th of September 2008 11:54:18 PM)
God this woman is so good. Have any of you read her novel 'them' from 1970? Genial!
hotcarlreeves (Monday 1st of September 2008 12:50:00 PM)
goddammit dont censor me
Banakaal (Saturday 30th of August 2008 11:43:13 PM)
If you don't know the difference between 'Your' and 'You're', then you would benefit from an English class before you start writing in the hope of being read. If you are here just for interest's sake then maybe you are forgiven!
Desertionreality (Saturday 30th of August 2008 11:57:22 PM)
What is it about the youtube community putting so much focus on spelling. This isn't a novel - it's a low class chat room where people blow off steam far more then make useful comments. Typo's happen. A year and a half ago I had a short story published in Asimov's; "A General Pacifist". The real point is that somebody who can judge a person's knowledge based on so little sounds more like a bitter critic then an ever growing writer. Go take as many classes as you want. It can't teach passion.
Banakaal (Sunday 31st of August 2008 12:51:43 AM)
Your nickname says much. I agree, YouTube's Character count is a problem. Exact grammar is hard. You display ignorance of basics, so how can you expect anyone to take you seriously? Manuscripts that read as if they written by poorly educated ten-year olds, don't get published; unless the ten year old is a genius. I'm no 'bitter critic'; merely . trying to explain things as they are. Learn the use of the apostrophe. George Bernard Shaw could ignore this rule, (He thought) but we mortals can't.
davwar73 (Saturday 13th of September 2008 05:14:51 AM)
A comma is not necessary after "ten-year olds". Also, you are a little liberal in your use of semi-colons. You've dropped a 'were' before written.
Banakaal (Saturday 13th of September 2008 06:31:40 AM)
I put a comma after 'ten-year olds'. The sentence needed a pause. Read it without pausing at the comma. Then you might wish to reconsider if a comma is optional or maybe even necessary. Do you know what a semi-colon does? It seems you don't know. I didn't miss a 'were'. I left in a 'they' by accident. That was a typo. Do you know what typos are? As I said,the character count in YT makes it difficult to write correct syntax and grammar.. OK Teacher?