A Tribute to My Favorite Uncles

August 27, 2015September 26, 2015beccakinla advice, news, recommended reading, writing Tags: BT, Chareidi, family, fiction, frummed out, hamodia, hareidi, Inyan, jewish, magazine, orthodox, rebecca klempner, relationship with family, short story, women, writer Leave a comment

Looking for some Shabbos/weekend reading?

I’ve got a new story in this week’s Inyan Magazine, inside Hamodia (dated August 26, 2015). The story is called “The Favorite Uncle,” and it’s a sorta reversal of real-life situations between my kids and their beloved uncles, as well as a paean to my own awesome uncles, Ira and Larry.

Synopsis: 11 year-old Alex Silverstein’s favorite uncle frums out (becomes Orthodox), and Alex is not amused.

I’d love feedback from anyone who reads the story!

I also thought this would be a great opportunity to answer a question I’ve been getting a lot lately, included from professional (non-fiction) writers:

How do you write a short story?

Usually, the first step for me is Continue reading →

Why Endings So Often Disappoint Readers

May 19, 2015May 19, 2015beccakinla advice, writing, writing process Tags: advice, author, conclusion, disappointment, endings, revising, story, sucks, writer, writing, writing process 2 Comments

I’ve posted about the difficulty of nailing an ending before. More than once, I’ve had to completely abandon the conclusion of my rough draft and write an entirely new ending. When I said in the title of this post that endings “disappoint,” I really wanted to use that word that Bart Simpson made popular in the late ’80s that some of my readers insist is almost as bad as actual profanity. I’ll refrain.

I’m thinking about endings because Continue reading →

My OCD confession in Tablet and more resources about OCD

January 28, 2015February 16, 2015beccakinla advice, Jewish, Jewish writing, success Tags: essay, hareidi, jewish, mental health, OCD, orthodox, personal essay, scrupulosity 2 Comments

Tablet’s running my essay about the weirdest thing that happened to me due to my OCD, which is so freaky that it’s taken years for me to write about. The only reason I finally did so was because I’ve seen some talk about these symptoms in Orthodox magazines, but none in mainstream media, and almost all of it was written either anonymously or by a non-sufferer. It became important to me that people know they are not alone, not losing their minds, and that they get help and understanding that they need.

I’m getting incredible, supportive feedback, thank G-d. A couple people have reached out to me because they or a relative have scrupulosity or OCD in general, so I thought it might be good to share a few more resources. Continue reading →

Sol Stein sold me on “The Actor’s Studio Method for Developing Drama in Plots”

January 8, 2015beccakinla advice, how to write, recommended reading, writer, writing, writing process Tags: actors studio, advice, author, books, conflict, dialogue, drama, elia kazan, fiction, sol stein, stein on writing, strategies, technique, writing, writing process 4 Comments

Some of my regular readers might notice that my usual response to frustration in the midst of a writing project is to start borrowing writing books from the library and systematically going through them (in addition to eating chocolate, cleaning, and spending too much time on Facebook as an avoidance strategy).

A new favorite writing book, chock full of original, well-informed, and practical advice.

I’m two volumes into my current stack of five. The last couple of days, I’ve been reading Stein on Writing, written by novelist, playwright, and editor extraordinaire, Sol Stein. It’s not a new book, but it’s a classic, and I picked it up due to the acclaim.

I’m not done yet, but I’m just loving this book. It’s much more practical than most of the writing books I’ve read, which tend toward the touchy-feely, and after 50 pages of familiar (but articulate) ground (which I probably could use a review of anyway), Stein starts describing all sorts of new strategies for writers to employ.

My favorite one, thus far, is “The Actors Studio Method for Developing Drama in Plots.” Continue reading →

Books that model good middos: Measure of a Man by Martin Greenfield

December 21, 2014beccakinla advice, book, holocaust, Jewish, recommended reading, shoah Tags: achievement, autobiography, book, character, holocaust, immigrant, jewish, martin greenfield, measure of a man, memoir, middos, recommended reading, review, shoah, survival 1 Comment

One day early in my marriage, I found my husband reading the autobiography of John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach.

Martin Greenfield’s new book about the Shoah and after inspires readers to rise to greatness.

“Why are you reading that?” I asked. My husband did not follow sports, and he rarely read a book that wasn’t overtly “Jewish.”

“My rabbi once told me that if you want to learn good middos (character traits), you should read about the lives of people who have achieved genuine greatness.”

In that vein, I’m going to recommend that my husband read Measure of a Man, Martin Greenfield’s new memoir of survival and character. If you want to learn why, check out my review of Measure of a Man in last week’s Jewish Home L.A.

A discovery! And what happens when you follow other writers’ advice.

November 16, 2014beccakinla advice, creativity, productivity, serial, tips, writer, writing, writing process Tags: advice, author, binah magazine, creativity, focus@will, inspiration, productivity, serial, tips, write, writer, writing, writing process Leave a comment

So, things today went better today than last week. In short, I wrote more today than I wrote in the entirety of last week. (Yes, that’s how bad things were going.)

One of the things I found helpful was focus@will’s new setting “Cafe focus Beta.” A few months back, I reported that researchers released data indicating that writers are more productive in cafes than sitting in a quiet office at home. Well, I guess the folks at focus@will read the same study, because not only can you use the site to enhance your creativity with baroque or ambient music — or to white noise — you can now listen to a re-creation of a busy cafe full of people.

And yes, I did indeed find it helpful.

I also relied on the advice of other writers today in order to increase my productivity. Continue reading →

Rebecca Klempner

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